Apocalypse
by xxbabyxox
Summary: Mikan Sakura is living in a war torn world, where an evil dictator is in power, having locked away Mikan's alices. Every one she has trusted is dead. Now Mikan has one choice: she has to go back in time to defeat the evil BEFORE it rises to power. NxM!
1. One Last Chance

**School is a pain. Death is a pain. I really HATE death. **

**So one of the most important people in the world to me has died recently. So in the middle of a storm of grief, I clear out my semi-satisfactory ideas for a Gakuen Alice story, and land on this AMAZINGone. It's going to be a challenge to complete, because I don't have any idea where it is going yet, and how I'm going to be doing this all while on class board, captian of my field hockey team, and keeping up A's, but I shall try. **

**Reviews are the key to making me update faster, as I'm sure my more regular readers know. It would help me tons if you were to give me opinion on this story, and what you think of it. **

**so please, enjoy! Nice to be back on fanfiction again.**

**Love,**

**Baby**

**-x-**

Prologue: Unlocked

Fingers, rough with work, messaged a creased forehead. The fingernails were clean, but utterly short, evidence that they were victims of severe chewing. Elbows lay unmoving on the bare mahogany table, empty chairs all around. Except for one.

Seated in the wooden chair with the stern back and the far too comfortable pink cushion was a young woman, younger than twenty-five it would appear with a glance.

In the background, a doorbell rang several times, triggering a wail of disturbance. The woman's eyelids fluttered open, revealing gorgeous olive eyes. Suddenly she didn't seem so young anymore. No, those eyes were aged with terrors only known by her own self. Swallowing, the woman pushed back her chair and walked swiftly out the room, into a hallway.

The hall was decorated with many photos. Almost all of them had the woman in them, though they showed her at an age much younger. They had been taken when her olive eyes were not burdened with secrets.

The others held pictures of mostly a teenaged girl with purple hair, coming just past her waist. The girl's eyes sparkled with a mischievous, wild glint and a smirk could be seen on her face. Another occupant of the photos was a teenaged boy with neatly combed blonde hair. In every one of his photographs, his hair was slicked back with gel and he had on a smile that would woo any dentist.

Two pictures were separated from the rest. They were outlined in gold frames instead of silver, and one had a slightly crack in the outer covering. The first picture was of a newborn baby girl. Her head had just barely wisps of blonde hair and her dark purple eyes were staring widely at the camera, wide and untrusting. The baby girl was slightly flushed, the cream blanket looking exceptionally dark against her pale skin. The second picture was of two children, just barely teenagers, the age of fourteen. They were dressed in black, red, and white sailor style uniforms. The girl, had her hair tied up in two pigtails and was clutching the boy's arm tightly. She was smiling widely at the camera, her grin crooked, but pure. The boy was staring at the camera blankly, but his crimson eyes showed the slightest bit of amusement.

The young woman stopped at the end of the hall, her hand grasping a golden doorknob and flinging it open, gaze hardening on who her eyes fell upon. The man before her was dressed in a black trench coat, his eyes covered by a simple white mask and covered with jewelry. The woman stepped backwards calmly as the man bowed to her in respect.

"Shiro Neko," He drawled out, almost mockingly. The woman sniffed and turned on her foot, walking back down the hallway. The man lifted his head smirking, and walked fully into the house, closing the door behind him and locking it. The man walked down the hallway slowly, absorbing every picture he passed along the way. Finally, he found himself in the dining room, gazing intently at the young woman whose back was turned from him. Her long brown hair was swinging, and the woman herself seemed to be bouncing side to side and murmuring under her breath. "I have never been in your home before."

The woman spun around abruptly, her hands clutching a bundle of blankets. The man blinked, surprised before his face turned blank. "What do you want?" The woman hissed, her olive eyes narrowing with mistrust. "Why are you _here_? You know I can't work for you anymore I'm all this child has left. I refuse for her to become an orphan."

"You could just send her with me-" He started, but was cut off.

"We have _no_ idea if she is an alice or not. I'm not about to risk her freedom!" The woman proclaimed, rocking the baby back and forth.

"Her parents both had alices. There is a high possibility that she-"

"_What_ do you want?" The woman repeated thickly, her gaze clouding over with anger.

"We have finished searching the Nogi home." The man announced. "Your friend seemed to be working on something that could be the key to winning the war, before… the _incident_ she and her husband were involved in." The woman flinched, but listened on never the less. "We have recovered and perfected it. We need you to use it, right away."

"But I _can't_!" She exclaimed. "I told you I was done with the war! _Done_!" Her voice was rising with panic. "There's nothing I can do anymore, my healing abilities only go so far and you know _he_ put a lock on my alices!" Her fist rose and a golden bracelet could be seen, tightened to the woman's fist.

The man strode over to the woman taking her freehand. The woman looked at the man shocked. He could not tell if it was, because of his words or his actions. "Please," He began his voice gentle. Gentler than she had ever heard it before. "Imai-san. Her invention will disable the bracelet for a few seconds. You'll have the power to go back and _change_. _Change_ what happened to Imai, to Nogi, to Narumi, to Jinno, to Harada, to Ando, to Hijiri to… _him_." Persona's other hand reached up to caress her skin. "You could change even _us_. Please, stop this war." The woman leaned involuntarily into his touch, the baby in between them gone oddly quiet, watching the two people in front of her converse. The woman's eyes closed and her forehead rested against the man's, only fifteen years elder than she.

"Okay," She whispered, her breath dancing across both the baby's and the man's skin. The man took the baby from her arms, rocking it gently, and he held over a paper bag.

"Hand this note to my past self." The man instructed. "It will help with a lot." The woman nodded and took a small sliver disk out of the bag, fingering it carefully.

"This is it?" The woman asked nervously, and the man nodded sharply, all traces of kindness gone.

"You should go now, before it is too late to fix." He said quietly. Nodding, the woman slowly placed it on her bracelet, hissing with pain as the bracelet squeezed tightly then loosening greatly, before opening her palm and conjuring up a small flicker of fire. "Go."

The woman looked up from the flame to the baby, to the man. "Keep her safe." She whispered. "Goodbye, Serio." The woman disappeared.

Serio Persona frowned, looking at the spot the woman last stood. "Please don't screw up, Mikan." He said.

**-x-**

**I don't know what posessed me to put Persona in but... this is definetly a NxM! it may have a touch of NXMXP, but it'll end up ultimatly of a NXM! if not, the MxP will be friendship/mentorish. **

**please, review!**

**Love,**

**Baby**


	2. Beginning of a Tangled Web

**Bonjour my readers! I could so _totally_ write that out in French, but I'm too lazy to. **

**Anyway. **

**Sorry for the slow update. wouldn't let me sign in. It was slightly ridiculous. **

**I just got back from my class trip... that was fun, cept we got rained on dramatically. And _yes_ you can get rained on dramatically if your supposed to be taking a class picture in front of the Captial and the kids are all complaining about having to take their warm clothes off and getting soaked and the evil camera man and standing there under his big umbrella crackling maniacally because he's kind of warm _and_ dry. **

**Sorry. I'll get over that. Someday. **

**But anyway. _Today_ I've loaded the next chapter to... Preventing the Apocalypse **

**Hope you enjoy it, dearests!**

-x-

Chapter One:

Floating in and out of consciousness, the first thing Mikan realized was that someone was holding her hand. She breathed deeply and sighed, muffled by a pillow. That meant that she was lying down on her stomach. But where?

Mikan tried to open her eyes, but they were weighted down with drowsiness. She groaned, wanting more than anything to open her eyes. The soft hand holding hers squeezed tighter and Mikan squeezed it back.

"Mikan-san?" A raspy voice whispered. "Are you awake?"

"Mmmm…" Mikan forced out, shifting in her bed. Her head was pounding. What did she _do_?

"It's okay, I'm here." The voice continued, rubbing her back. The gentle hands worked in circular motions, massaging her gently. Mikan arched her back and squeezed her eyes tightly, pushing her knees up so she was almost in a kneeling position. "Mikan-san? Oh thank kami-sama, we were so worried."

"Itai…" Mikan groaned, her eyes finally forcing themselves open. They locked on a boy sitting next to her, blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'll be fine, Ruka-pyon." She assured the boy. _Ruka-pyon?_Mikan thought to herself. Her mind began working faster and faster and her heart beat accelerated. _It's Ruka-pyon! I'm back! I'm back! I did it! _She thought, sitting up all the way. A smile worked onto her face and Mikan jumped into Ruka's arms, snuggling her head on his chest, crying happy tears. "Oh Ruka-pyon…" She cried out.

Startled, Ruka began trying to comfort the girl, all while blushing at the fact that she was straddling and squeezing the life out of him. "W-What's wrong, Mikan-san? I should be the one crying, not you. You just passed out… and I didn't know what to do!" He stuttered out, and Mikan pulled back, a grin spread across her face. She gave him a wet kiss on the cheek and Ruka blushed, matching the red on his school uniform.

Mikan climbed back onto the bed, thinking of a cover story almost instantly. "I-I had a horrible dream. Were you and Hotaru were captured by the AAO, and… I just can't go on with my life without you Ruka-pyon!" Ruka looked at Mikan, frowning.

"Oh Mikan-san…" He whispered, touched by her words.

"And you," Mikan wiped a tear from her eyes. "You're like my twin brother you know? Without you I feel empty inside!" Ruka froze and looked at her blankly, processing what she said. Mikan bit her lip and fought the guilty look that tried to edge her way onto her expression. "I love you, Ruka-pyon."

"I…" Ruka was still staring at her, trying to process her words. Mikan could see the thoughts spinning in his head. _Twin brother… twin…brother? _Finally, he seemed to come to his senses, shaking his head. "I love you too, Mikan-san." Suddenly, the door was thrust open, revealing a murderous teenage girl with shoulder length dark purple hair and furious purple eyes.

"Hotaru!" Mikan exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. Her arms widened, expecting an embrace, but she was met with three sharp blows from a baka gun. _Where did she keep that thing anyway?_

"Mikan Sakura," She hissed. "You _baka!_"

"Itai, Hotaru…" Mikan grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"Imai-san, Mikan was already in pain, no need to make more of it…" Ruka chided, and was awarded with a glare from Hotaru.

"If she wasn't such a baka to pass out in the middle of the dining hall then I-"

"Ano…" Mikan interrupted. "But what _did _happen?" Both blinked at Mikan, surprised.

"You don't remember?" Hotaru asked, pulling up a chair to the other side of Mikan's bed. Mikan nodded. "Well _I_ wasn't there, but Nogi…" She glared across the bed at blue eyes.

"We were eating lunch and then you said that you needed to use the restroom, Mikan-san. Then you came back, smiling faintly, sat down, then..." Ruka's gaze softened as he looked over at Mikan. "Collapsed. You hit you head on the table and I carried you all the way here."

"You should've told me first!" Hotaru's voice was a deathly calm, but her fists were clenched, and white around the knuckles.

"The only thing that was on my mind was getting Mikan-san to safety _Imai_!" Mikan tuned out her two best friend's bickering as she looked around the room, her eyes falling on a calendar. _Good_. She thought to herself. _I need to find out what day it is, anyway._

The calendar showed April 21st proudly, and Mikan frowned. Why had her sub-consciousness picked _that_day? Nothing special happened any time soon… Well, accept the fact that Mr. Imoto, was going to start teaching the next day. _Oh._ She thought. _OH_. Mikan needed to get things straightened out and plans planned out before the next day approached. Her hand flew down to her skirt pocket, and Mikan was pleased to hear a crunch of paper tucked in, underneath. Persona's letter had stayed safe.

"Mikan!" Hotaru's harsh voice brought Mikan back to the present. She slowly turned to look at her friend.

"Yes Hotaru?"

"Don't just stare off in space like that, you baka! We thought something was wrong with you!" Mikan absently turned to face Ruka, who's face showed a look of concern for her. Mikan's heart warmed at the sight and she smile softly.

"I _really_need to get out of here." Mikan lied with a pretty smile on her face. "I'm _so_ bored!"

Ruka nodded enthusiastically, but Hotaru's eyes narrowed. She didn't want Mikan to get hurt again. "The nurse said you could leave once you've woken! Said you'd fainted from shock!" Ruka exclaimed, tugging on Mikan's hand to help her sit upwards.

"Where do you wish to go, Mikan? Jogi and I will escort you." Hotaru said carefully.

"Oh," Mikan said swinging her legs off of the bed. "Just to Persona-sensei's office." Both Ruka and Hotaru froze, looking at Mikan sharply.

"Excuse me?" Ruka asked hoarsely. Mikan bit her lip before shrugging.

"Naru… Narumi-sensei asked me to pass on a message to him a while ago. I feel bad that I've been dozing off in a hospital bed while something horrible could be going on." The lie tumbled out into a fairly believable story. Ruka and Hotaru didn't think twice of it, because Mikan Sakura never lied.

"Well then, let's go baka." Hotaru said, grabbing her friends arm. With both friends leading her, the trio made their way down to Gakuen Alice's scariest teacher's office.

-x-

Mikan closed the door behind her, praying that the thick wood was keep their conversation a secret. The room was pitch black, but Mikan could feel the presence of another human in the room.

"Mikan Sakura." An eerie voice whispered, and Mikan tensed before lifting her palm and igniting a ball of fire, lighting up the center of the room. Standing only three feet from her was Persona, dressed in black, his mouth slightly agape, but never the less expressionless. "You… have the alice of fire?"

"No." Mikan said shortly, using her free hand to pull the letter out of her pocket. She shoved it towards Persona. "Read it." She said. His eyes not leaving hers, Persona snatched the letter and tore it open. His eyes flickered over it and they returned to meet hers. Then, his face twisted into a sour look and he reread the letter. And again. And again. And again. And again. Persona looked up at Mikan, studying her pale face illuminated behind the fire. Her eyes were determined, yet still frightened.

"So if we don't fix this…" Persona finally said.

"World destruction. Six years from now three quarters off this school would be either dead, part of the AAO, or captured as prisoners or slaves." Mikan replied evenly.

"Tomorrow morning, training at four o clock Sakura. Dress to run." Persona said, turning and walking from the fire and towards the darkness.

"But that's not fair, Serio! I've been sneaking and spying and conspiring against the AAO for seven years! I hardly need to train!" Mikan burst out.

"…Serio?" Came the response. Mikan blushed and looked down.

"I… I apologize. I forget that we aren't as close… now." Mikan mumbled.

"Indeed. But, your mind is back in your sixteen year old body. You need to get it into shape as soon as possible. Be at the Northern Forest at four o clock." Persona's voice repeated. There was a pause before, "You may call me Serio, still, if you wish." Mikan put out her flame and backed towards the door, before swinging it open and walking outside, almost walking straight into the masked figure of Natsume Hyuga. He tugged off his mask, growling and Mikan's face when blank, startled.

"Nat-Natsume!" Mikan exclaimed. She wasn't ready for this… to face Natsume…

"What are you doing here?" He yelled, and Mikan gulped.

"I-I… was dropping of a message for Ser…Persona-sensei…y-yeah, that's all…"

Natsume glared at her, looking for even a trace of a lie, but found none. That meant Mikan was telling the truth. _She was just dropping off a message, Natsume. Cam down, there's no danger. She's safe. Mikan is safe. _He soothed himself. He lifted a hand and placed it on Mikan's shoulder, frowning as she inhaled sharply. Someone flicked against her emotionless face, but Natsume couldn't place it. _Since when could Mikan make her face go blank, anyway?_He wondered to himself. "I'm sorry for yelling, Cherries. I'm just…" Natsume trailed off awkwardly and Mikan grinned.

"Worried about me, yes I know." She finished, and smiled wider when Natsume growled. "It's perfectly fine to worry about someone Natsume-kun, it shows that you have a heart. Well, I have to get going, I promised Hotaru and Ruka that I'd check in with them. I'm happy to see you look unblemished from your mission."

"It was a success." Natsume said shortly. "Goodbye, Mikan." He finished before taking his hand from Mikan and walking towards Persona's office. He gave her a small wink before pushing the door open and ducking inside. Mikan's eyes glazed over as she stared after him.

"I'll save you this time, Natsume. Just you wait and see." She whispered to the closed door. "Wait... how _dare_ he peak at my panties!"

-**PREVIEW**-

Mikan looked up from the time table smirking. "Jeez Serio, with the amount of time I'll be spending with you, one would think that you'd spent the entire night rearranging your schedule just so you'd be stuck with me practically _all_day!" She joked, only halfway serious. Mikan was met with silence and an expressionless Persona.

-x-

Mikan clenched her fist and fought to keep her temper down. Evenly, she said. "But _sensei_, Don't you think I deserve a detention too? Why do you want him in detention so bad? Secretly like boys, sensei? Want to get him alone so you can pin him down and-"

"SAKURA!"

-x-

"You smiled, you smiled, you smiled!" Mikan chanted, bouncing circles around Persona.

"Sakura-san…" Persona growled. "I do _not_ appreciate your taunting…"

"I knew my story would get you to. This is amazing! This goes down in the history books. Trice in a lifetime!" Mikan shouted, pumping her fist in the air. Persona stared at the girl unbelivingly.

"You got me to smile two other times? That's it, get out of my sight, you are _clearly_ bad for my health."

-x-

**Tada! Please, read and review!**

**Review, review, review! To encorage you, i'll even do one of those weird skit things. **

***walks to center stage and takes a seat in an empty chair. The GA Preventing the Apocalypse crew gathers around***

**Baby: Hey guys, how's that for a first chapter? **

**Hotaru: Satisfactory. **

**Ruka: That was horrible! I got my heart broken. *bottom lip starts to quiver***

**Baby: Suck it up, Ruka. Wouldn't want anyone thinking your an emotional girl, right?**

**Ruka: My Okaa-san always said that it took a real man to cry. **

**Persona: *Snorts* Yeah right.**

**Natsume: What a lie... **

**Mikan: I like Lucky Charms!**

***everyone turns to stare at Mikan blankly***

**Mikan: What? I got _bored_. You guys are so _dull_. Where's the action? And _why_ am I so close with Persona.  
****Persona: It's cause you secretly find me sexy. **

**Natsume: What a joke, _Persona_... right Polka dots?**

**Mikan: ...**

**Natsume: Polka dots? **

**Mikan: hmm? oh sorry about that Natsume. no... of.... of course i don't find him... s-sexy. nope. **

**Thanks for reading and Reviewing!  
**

**Love,**

**Baby**


	3. Plans into Motion

**A single spot light turns on and Baby steps into it. **

**xxbabyxox: Wow... i can't believe it took me four months to retrieve my password... **

**Six spotlights turn on symbolizing the main characters of the story. Persona. Natsume. Mikan. Ruka. Hotaru. Imoto-sensei. Each character is sitting comfortably in a chair.**

**Mikan: *cocks head to the side with wide eyes* I knew you had a bad memory Baby but...**

**xxbabyxox: no joke! It took me _that long_! I wrote this chapter in... November I suppose? I'm _so_ sorry to those who have been waiting. **

**Hotaru: Only an baka like you... **

**Mikan: Hey I thought _I_ was your baka!**

**Hotaru: *pulls out Baka Gun 2009* BAKA! BAKA! It's nothing to get jealous over you baka!**

**Mikan: HO-TAR-U!**

**Natsume: Oi! Will you two cut it out?**

**Persona: Yes, it is very unbecoming. **

**Imoto: And _annoying._**

**Ruka: Shush you pervert. **

**Imoto: I am _not_ attracted to Natsume-kun in _any_ way. **

**Natsume: It's Natsume to you.**

**xxbabyxox: erm...**

**Ruka: Yeah! Since when did you think you could go around saying people's first names? **

**Natsume: Respect is earned, not given. **

**xxbabyxox: I think...**

**Persona: Very good, ex-cat, I've taught you well. **

**Natsume: I didn't ask for _your_ imput, Persona. **

**xxbabyxox: guys...? **

**Mikan: Don't talk to Persona-sensei like that! He works very hard and deserves to be treated with kindness!**

**Imoto: I work hard too!**

**Ruka: No you don't you just have us _read_ all day!**

**Natsume: Why do _you_ care about Persona, Polka-dots? **

**Persona: SILENCE! Before I dump you all on the AAO's doorstep. Baby wants to speak.**

**xxbabyxox: Um... thanks Serio...Persona. I just... wanted to say... on with the story...**

Chapter Three: Plans into Motion

_The air was thick with the smell of burning. The sky was grey, smoke clouding the usually clear sky. The ground crackled as figures dressed in black marched around the field in pairs, identifying the bodies which were scattered like sprinkles on ice cream. _

_One figure in particular was walking alone, keeping her eyes stern and emotionless. Her posture was straight and was walking from body to body with the upmost grace. That was until she tripped on a body, flying in the air and landing stomach first on the ground, instinctively closing her eyes. The teen huffed on the ground and looked up, eyes widening as they met with cold, dead eyes the same as hers. "Uncle..." She whispered. "My last family." Her hand shoved from under the dirt and rested against a pale cheek. The dirt from her hands rubbed against the burned face, and tears began to fall from the girl's eyes. _

_"Shiro Neko!" A voice sharply called, and the girl's mind closed down as she tore her hand away and jumped up from the ground. _

_"Yes, sir." She answered. The speaker stared at her emotionlessly, but his features seemed to soften momentarily. _

_"Can you identify that man?" He asked, gentler now. _

_"He's my Uncle, sir." She said, her voice not losing an ounce of obedience. _

_"He will be counted for, then." The voice paused before saying. "We have found some information on what caused this, Shiro Neko." _

_The girl stared up at the man speaking to her. She didn't understand why it concerned her. She did want to know, but… "Yes sir?"_

_"It was caused by the fire alice." The man stated grimly. _

_"But sir… Natsume's been gone since…" _

_"His death was never confirmed." _

_"No, aren't there any other fire alices?" _

_"Only Aoi Hyuga, but she too is missing." _

_"But… Natsume would never… he wouldn't…Kami-sama." The girl protested weakly. She didn't know what Natsume was like… after these years… "You believe he's actually joined?" _

_"We're sending a spy in, just to be sure." _

_"Let it be me." The girl demanded, but the man shook his head sharply. _

_"Unsatisfactory. His last impression of you was innocence and the will to do what is right. He will surely see through you and learn your true intentions." _

_The girl blinked, her mouth forming the question that she knew the answer to, but didn't want to answer for herself. "Then who?" _

_"We're going to send in Ruka Nogi." _

_It was only the beginning of a series of unfortunate events. _

Mikan awoke to a dark bedroom. Automatically, she arose from her bed and walked into her three-star bathroom, stepping in for a quick shower.

Within minutes Mikan walked out of her dorm room and onto campus for an early morning run. She was used to waking up early as the baby's screams had worked as a better alarm clock than any of Hotaru's other creations could've. Mikan glanced at the watch on her wrist and frowned. She had four minutes until her meeting with Persona. Glancing around uneasily, Mikan pushed her leisurely walk into a harsh run as she sprinted into the Northern Forest, into the spot were she used to meet Persona… or was going to, at least. She shook her head, frustrated. Jumping the timeline was confusing, let alone changing it.

Finally, the girl slowed to a stop near a seemingly random tree stump and puffed out, clutching her heart to calm it's rapid rate. "You're on time." It was a statement, not an question. Mikan tensed and then relaxed as she recognized the voice had to threat to her.

"Serio."

Serio Persona stepped out of the shadows silently and calmly with a white paper in his hand. He handed it over to Mikan as he reached her and watched impassively as she looked over it. The girl looked excited, yet pained at the same time.

"Is there a problem with my schedule, Kuro Neko?" He asked. Mikan shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "No? Then what is so… fascinating?"

Mikan looked up from the time table smirking. "Jeez Serio, with the amount of time I'll be spending with you, one would think that you'd spent the entire night rearranging your schedule just so you'd be stuck with me practically _all_ day!" She joked, only halfway serious. Mikan was met with silence and an expressionless Persona. She looked back down at the time table. _I figured._ She thought to herself. _It's not like he'd ever tell me anyway. Probably the only living human being who he can trust completely. _"I mean, honestly, eight hours with you a day? That's as long as I spend in school!" She exclaimed, waving her arms around dramatically. "And…" Mikan paused, dropping her arms and frowning. "Kuro Neko? Why would you call me Kuro Neko? My name is supposed to be-"

"Shiro Neko? Yes, but we're trying to change the future to prevent…certain events. I figured that if you wore the Kuro Neko mask, _if_ you were spotted, it would take a moment for the AAO to discover that you weren't Natsume."

"But, my hair." Mikan said frowning, and pointing to her waist brown hair. Persona shrugged.

"Not my problem." He said. "Cut it, die it, hide it, whatever. Just make sure it appears black. That's your homework."

Mikan rolled her eyes and huffed. "Yippe." She said sarcastically, and Persona smirked.

"Enough chit-chat. I've got things to plan and while you're on your run you can decide what you're going to do with the situation on hand. Since you've _apparently_ been through my training before you'll know the routine? Good. Well then. I suppose I'll see you at six for training." Persona turned on his heel walked away, disappearing into the shadows once more.

Begrudgingly, Mikan picked up her feet and began to run. _Yes, he was right. I need to figure out how to provoke Mr. Imoto. _

-x-

_Mikan sighed as Ruka Nogi, her best friend since age ten, paced the room to her dormitory. _

_"I hate him, Mikan-chan!" He exclaimed, and Mikan sighed. _

_"I know, Ruka-pyon." Mikan agreed quietly. "I do too." _

_"NO!" Ruka jumped up, running to Mikan and cupping her cheeks in his hands. "You're Mikan-chan, you're not capable of hate." _

_Mikan rolled her eyes and smacked Ruka's hands away. "I am too." She said pouting. "That stupid teacher's taken Natsume-kun away from us!"_

_"Urgh! And what's his fixation with giving Natsume detentions everyday? It's like every time Natsume has one… he avoids us more and more!" Ruka paused in his rant to look at MIkan, somberly. "I don't like this, Mikan. He's changing something in Natsume." _

_"I know Ruka. I know." _

-x-

Mikan looked at the clock in her bedroom, acknowledging that the time was 8:45, forty five minutes after the first class of the day started. The time traveler looked at her attire and smirked, before popping a piece of gum in her mouth and walking out the door.

She took her time walking through the hallways, stopping in front of her classroom and taking a deep breath to calm herself. She put a smirk on her face before bursting into the class room none too quietly.

The teacher at the blackboard, who looked barely twenty one, turned around in surprise. The man was tall and built quite nicely, with long, dark red hair that was pulled into a low ponytail. His eyes were a dull brown and his smile was forced. "Ah, you must be Sakura-san. I was wondering where you were. I am known here as Imoto-sensei" He drawled out in a condescending tone.

"I was busy." Was the rude response Mikan let out, causing the class to look at her curiously. Normally, Mikan would've spazzed out with some heroic story about saving a lost kitten from a tree, but MIkan hadn't the time to come up with a convincing story. Besides, she wanted a detention, not to be pitied.

"Please, take a seat so we can continue with the lesson, Sakura-san." Mr. Imoto said tilting his head towards the desks. From the back of the classroom, a green haired girl let out a shriek of protest.

"Imoto-sensei! Sakura-san was even later than Natsume-kun! _And_ she's out of uniform!" She shrieked. _I've never been so happy to have someone hate me before._ Mikan thought to herself, resisting the urge to give a triumphant smile. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and looked to Mr. Imoto. He shook his head calmly.

"That won't be necessary, Souda-san. Now if she would just-"

"Imoto-sensei, pardon for the interruption, but it really isn't fair that you gave Hyuga-san detention for a week for being two minutes late while you're not doing anything for Sakura-san. No offense, Sakura-san, but you're a walking detention. No uniform, basically skipping class, and-" He was cut off by Mikan blowing a large bubble. "And she's even chewing gum, sir! Any respectable teacher would-"

"Sakura-san. Sit down. Just. Sit. Down." Mr. Imoto's voice sounded strangled, and Mikan knew that she would have to pull out the big guns to crack him, completely. He was under enough pressure from the students already.

"A week, Imoto? That's harsh." Mikan drawled out in a condescending manor. .

"Imoto-sensei, if you will. And if you had any common sense, you would sit down and shut up." Imoto said while sneering. Mikan's eyes widened and the class looked from Mr. Imoto to Mikan. Hotaru stood up abruptly , her chair scratching violently against the floor. The rest of the students in the class, their eyes widened or their jaws dropped.

Mikan clenched her fists and fought to keep her temper down. Evenly, she said. "But _sensei_, don't you think I deserve a detention too? Why do you want Natsume in detention so bad? Secretly like boys, sensei? Want to get him alone so you can pin him down and-"

"SAKURA!" Imoto shouted, his face turning as red as his hair. " DETENTION! FOR A MONTH!" He burst, and Mikan smirked, walking towards the back of the room where her seat, Ruka, and Natsume were waiting She slid into her seat, ignoring the stare Natsume was giving her.

"That wasn't so hard, wasn't it Imoto-_sensei_? I just know we're going to have great fun this year." Mikan said, smiling brightly. Mr. Imoto turned on his heal and stormed out of the class room. "See you after school!" Mikan called after him. She settled back in her seat to find the entire class watching her, gob smacked. "Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to say good morning. Ohayo minna!"

"Ohayo, Mikan?" They all said questioningly.

-x-

Mikan smiled as she exited the classroom with Natsume that night. Her hand was sore, and she'd written on the chalk board: _I will not disrespect my teacher. _Four hundred times, but nothing suspicious had happened between Imoto and Natsume, so she was happy. Imoto seemed to hate her with a burning passion now, but that was fine with her.

"Oi, little girl." Natsume tugged on Mikan's shirt sleeve, pulling her from her musings. MIkan grinned as she looked at her friend.

"I'm not a little girl." She said, half heartedly.

"Why'd you act so bad today, ne? This isn't like you."

Mikan smiled. "But don't you see, Natsume? My actions were totally justified! Well, except the gum thing. I was late this morning because I went to the hospital for a follow up and some tests. They want to know why I passed out yesterday. They wanted me to come in street clothes so that I'd be comfortable during the exam. I came in late to class, and Sumire started pushing for me to get detention, and don't you think it was a little weird that Imoto gave you one for something so trivial and not me?"

Natsume stayed silent, but reluctantly nodded his head. Mikan's smile grew. "I don't like him. I dislike him more than Jinno."

"Hn."

"What time is it, Natsume-kun?" Mikan wondered aloud, and Natsume shoved a watch into her face. "Six…fourty-five? If I don't get going… walk me back to my room please, Natsume-kun?"

"Hn… Little girl?"

"Hai, Natsume-kun."

"I think you should know… I don't work for Persona, anymore."

Before Natsume could blink, Mikan wrapped him in a large hug. "That's so amazing Natsume-kun! I'm so happy you won't be in danger anymore! Does that mean you're transferring over to special ability with me then?" Natsume's cheeks were tinted pink as he tried to pry the over enthusiastic girl from him.

"Hn."

"Oh Natsume that's so great! We'll have _so_ much fun in our class together!"

"Get off of me Polka dots, I can't breathe."

"Oh! Sorry, Natsume-kun."

"Hn."

-x-

"And then after that, he stormed out of the room!" Mikan recalled, her eyes glazed over. She heard a soft snicker, and turned to Persona to see his lips curled up. "Was… was that a _smile_, Serio?" And the lips straightened out again.

"You're delusional." Persona stated, the tips of his ears turning red.

"No I'm not!" MIkan exclaimed. "You smiled, you smiled, you smiled!" Mikan chanted, bouncing in circles around Persona.

"Kuro Neko…" Persona growled. "I do _not_ appreciate you taunting…"

"I knew my story would get you to smile. This is amazing! This goes down in the history books. Trice in a lifetime!" Mikan shouted, pumping her fist in the air. Persona stared at the girl unbelivingly.

"You got me to smile two other times? That's it, get out of my sight, you are _clearly_ bad for my health."

"Oh my goodness, you're joking too!" Persona's eye twitched and he pointed to the side of him.

"Just go, Kuro Neko… Just. Go." He strangled out. Mikan's eyes widened from beneath Natsume's old mask.

"Oh no! That's what Imoto said too! You don't hate me, do you Serio? I was just teasing! I don't want you to hate me!" She wailed. A small smile flittered against Persona's face.

"I don't hate you, Kuro Neko." Mikan nodded and began her run.

"That's the fourth time!" She called out behind her. Persona rolled his eyes, watching the girl who had turned his world upside down in just a few days run away from him.

**-x-**

**End of chapter Two.**

**So, I'm just a beginner at writing. If you have any tips/ideas, let me know in your comments cause i don't check my email. sorry. i just don't. I feel that my goal for this story is to try to get _deep_ into some topics instead of things being all happy, fluffy, ya know? Anyway...**

**comment if you want more, i should be better now that i've remembered my password too ! Oh... and... a Beta. I'm not really familiar with the system but... anyone willing to be mine? whatever _that_ means?**

**Love,**

**Baby**


	4. Missing Mikan and a Hot Blonde Guy

**Oh my gosh! Sooo sorry for not updating. Urgh, there's really no excuse. I'm going to update my Gilmore Girl's also, I feel so bad... :(. Sorry, hope you enjoy! It was fun writing this one. Any ideas for this story would help me A LOT. Feel free to PM me. They're fun to read!**

Chapter Four: Missing Mikan, Hot Blonde Guys, and a Towel

Ruka and Hotaru walked through their school's grounds quickly, both wearing looks of concern on their faces.

"Have you seen Mikan?" Every once and a while they would stop and ask a student. Their reply always seemed to be, "No."

Ruka had come to Hotaru with an idea that morning. Since Mikan passed out during mealtime the week before, why shouldn't she be watched carefully during that time? So they came up with a plan: wake up Mikan an hour before school started and drag her to breakfast, watching her every move. Then they would go to class, then lunch together, and then finally eat dinner together. They would smother Mikan with their attention.

However, that morning when they went to wake her up, Mikan hadn't been there!  
"Natsume!" Ruka exclaimed, catching his friend, sitting under his favorite Sakura tree. Natsume looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"What's the matter Hyuga? We mess up your day dreaming?" Hotaru teased dryly. Natsume glared.

"Mikan's missing!" Ruka blurted, and Natsume jumped to his feet in an instant.

"_What?_" He hissed.

"We went to wake her up twenty minutes ago, and she wasn't in her room!" Ruka continued, and Natsume began pacing.

"And her stuff?" He asked.

"Her bag and books were gone." Hotaru said. "No one has seen her…"

"Someone can." Natsume said, suddenly walking towards the middle school building. Hotaru and Ruka raised eyebrows at each other, but followed their friend. Natsume walked straight up to the Middle School Assistant director's office and knocked twice on the door. The door opened and revealed an old looking lady with bright purple hair and bright red lipstick. She grinned.

"Imai-san, Nogi-san, Hyuga-san. I was expecting you." She said, stepping back. "Come in. I will be happy assist."

"Assistant Director Alyssa Moreno, moved to America after graduating from America's Academy thirty five years ago. Has the Alice of seeing scenes in the present although, they only last for approximately one minute." Hotaru recited from memory.

"Very good Imai-san." Director Moreno said, sitting down at her chair. Her desk held a large glass ball. "Take a seat children." They all complied. "If I place my hands on this glass ball, you should be able to see the image that appears in my mind. Now, it is Mikan Sakura you wish to seek, yes?"

The three nodded as one. With a smile, Director Moreno placed her hands on the glass ball and closed her eyes, sagging in her chair. An image appeared in the ball.

**Vision sequence **

_Mikan walked out of the bathroom in only a towel, running a hand through her hair. The room she was in was obviously a suite, and she was obviously not alone. At the desk in the corner of a room, a blonde headed boy faced her, though his head was tucked into a book. _

_"What does Tan stand for, Mikan?" He asked, and Mikan rolled her eyes. _

_"I don't know." She said carelessly. "Where's my uniform?"_

_"Bed." The boy reply. "And yes you do know. You have to." _

_"Fine. It means… tangent. Happy?" Mikan huffed, walking over to the bed, where her skirt and a large shirt and tie was laid out. "What the hell is this Tamaki? This isn't GA's uniform!" She demanded. Tamaki shrugged and flicked a page in the book. _

_"I could wash your skirt, but the top to your outfit was a goner. Sorry." He didn't really sound all too sorry. "You'll be fine wearing half of the boy's uniform. I'll sign a note for you and everything." Mikan rolled her eyes and began pulling the clothes over her towel. "Tell me what Sohcahtoa stands for." _

_"Are you serious!" She exclaimed, buttoning up her shirt. It touched her knees so she dropped her towel. Tamaki looked up and smirked lazily, his purple eyes sparkling. **Such a pretty boy.** _

_"You look kind of hot in nothing but my shirt." Mikan glared. "Sohcahtoa and I'll stop hitting on you." _

_"Sine, Opposite, Hypot-" She began chanting. _

**End of vision **

"What. The. Fuck."

No one was sure who in the room that came from, but all of its four occupants were contestants, judging by their matching looks of shock.

"Who was that guy!" Natsume demanded, and the director's eyebrows furrowed.

"That was Tamaki Verdier, he's a freshmen in GA college. And as you know, the college campus is restricted to those not attending. I'm curious on how Sakura-san gained access."

"I hate him already." Hotaru hissed, and Natsume felt inclined to agree.

"I like the guy." Ruka said, shoving his hands in his pockets. All occupants turned to look at him, shocked. "What? He got MIkan to study." He argued. "Maybe she'll pass the Trig test today in Math."

"BAKABAKABAKABAKA!" Hotaru blew off the smoke coming from her "baka" gun. "Mikan was in a strange man's room in nothing but a towel. Doesn't that sound wrong to you Nogi?" She asked coldly. Ruka shrugged.

"Maybe Mikan's clothes got messy and she needed to take a shower and his dorm was close by. Remember, he said 'I could wash your skirt, but the rest of your uniform was a goner'? Don't judge either of them before you know the entire story. Don't assume the worst." Natsume crossed his arms while the Director seemed to smile with relief.

"Those were very wise words, Nogi-san. Now, you should hurry if you want to make it to class on time. You wouldn't want to disappoint your new teacher." Ruka stood from his seat, and the others followed his lead, and from that, they walked out the door and to class.

-x-

Mikan swung open the door to her class room five minutes after the bell already rang. She was flushed, and panting. "Gomen!" She apologized to Imoto. "I was studying and lost track of the time. Ohayo everyone!" Most of the class replied 'Ohayo' back.

"Detention, Sakura-san." Imoto said coldly. "Take your seat." Mikan smirked, and one of the girls in the room shrieked.

"She's not in uniform!"

"Indeed." Imoto agreed, turning to Mikan. "Where's the rest of your uniform, Sakura?"

Mikan fished a letter out of her bag. "Here." She said, giving it to the man. He raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know of your relationshipo to-" Mikan cut him off.

"Hardly anyone does. It's a secret. We wouldn't appreciate it if it got around the school sensei." Mikan said, walking to the back of the classroom and taking her usual seat between Ruka and Natsume. She leaned back. "You understand, I'm sure." Imoto nodded swiftly before turning to the chalkboard. He began writing their schedule for the day on it as conversation picked up in the room between the students. Hotaru made a beeline to the back of the room.

"Where were you this morning?" She demanded. Mikan smiled.

"Ohayo Hotaru!" She said with a smile. "How are you?"

Hotaru ignored her question. "We went to your dorm this morning and you weren't there."

"What?" Koko exclaimed, reeling from the information he read from Hotaru's mind. "Mikan was with a guy?!" He exclaimed, the entire room went silent and they all turned to Mikan, except Imoto who was concentrating on the chalkboard. Hotaru turned around furiously with her Baka 2000 in her hand. "DON'T READ MY MIND!" She slid rings to Ruka and Natsume and one on her own finger. "They shield your mind from intrusions. Keep them on around Koko."

Mikan's smile seemed frozen on her face. "I was visiting Kaname's cousin Tamaki." The smile slipped off her face and her lip trembled. "It's the anniversary of his death today." She said, before she burst into tears. "All of his friends were having a memorial on the college campus and I had to sleep over. Oh Kaname-kun! I miss you so much!" She sobbed, putting her head on the desk and covering it with her arms. Guiltily, Natsume, Hotaru, and Ruka all looked away. Covered by her arms, Mikan smiled triumphantly.

-x-

"You will be doing your duties outside today, Sakura-san." Mikan was in a panic. He was trying to be alone with Natsume! _NO!_ She couldn't let that happen!

"NO!" She exclaimed, suddenly, dropping to her knees. "I…I need your help, Sensei!" She was fabricating lies as she went along.

Imoto was looking impatient. "What?" He asked plainly.

"P-Please! I have to tell you alone! I-It's a secret and… I don't want any of my friends to know!" She looked up with tear filled eyes. Imoto was looking at her startled while Natsume was looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed and a strangle look on his face. "I know I can trust you sensei! _Please!_"

"Natsume, you are dismissed." Imoto said, and Natsume reluctantly left the classroom. "What is it?" He asked eagerly, sitting down at his desk. Mikan opened her mouth and he sat forward in his seat anxiously.

"As you learned today, the Headmaster is my Uncle, sensei." Imoto nodded.

_Harmless information. _Mikan chanted in her head. _Keep it harmless, basic information that he would probably know._ "H-he said my mother…" She let out a sob. "My mother is in…" Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "_The AAO._" With a frustrated look, Imoto sat back in his chair.

"It's true. She's one of the big guys." He said nonchalantly, but then covered it up with a wave. "At least, that's what… um… Persona said." Mikan's eyebrows shot up.

"P-Per…" She shivered. "_That guy_discusses what happens between this school and the AAO?"

"Um…" He looked nervous. _As far as she'll know…_Mikan read his mind, resisting the urge to scowl. "All the time." Mikan put on a sad face.

"I wish _I_got to be involved in all of that! But my alice apparently isn't helpful enough. It's not even considered dangerous." She said with a pout.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that…" Imoto slipped, and Mikan's eyes widened. She leaned forwards in mock shock.

"Nani?"

"Don't tell anyone I told you this Sakura," Imoto leaned forwards as well. "Your mother was in the Dangerous Abilities class."

"Yes?" Mikan said, motioning for him to continue.

"She had the same alice as you." Mikan swallowed heavily and leaned back.

"The same alice…"

"They think you'll go mad with power, Mikan. You're too dangerous to be in D.A. You could control all of alice academy if you were trained correctly." Imoto had a fire in his eyes. Mikan stood up, clenching her fists.

"I-I'll show them!" She exclaimed. "I'll become so powerful, I'll… I'll… Well I don't know. But I'll shock them all." She said dramatically. "Arigato sensei." She said, and Imoto nodded. Without glancing back at him, she walked out of the door.

-x-

"Change of plans." Mikan said as she met Persona at their 'spot' as Mikan now fondly called it. She didn't wait for Persona to respond as she continued. "I don't know how, but Natsume, Hotaru, and Ruka were able to see that I was with Tamaki this morning."

"The Director told me that they went to her this morning in search of you. She wasn't aware of our… _precious_ situation, but she has now been made aware." Persona assured her.

"Not all of it, right?" Mikan asked with a rise in her voice. Persona gave her a look that said, _what do you take me for?_And she smiled. "Gomen Serio. I just can't be help but be anxious, you know? Do you think I can _SEC _her alice?"

"I'll arrange it." Persona confirmed.

"Good." Mikan said shortly. "I let Imoto think he's going to turn me against Gakuen Alice. Hopefully he'll give up on Natsume and focus his efforts on me, neh?"

"That's very smart, Mikan." Persona said. "Is that all?"

"For tonight, yes." Mikan said. Persona nodded.

"Homework:-" Persona announced, ignoring her groan. "Brush up on your English, be ready to be native by Friday. Verdier will be assisting you. I will be providing your attire." Mikan nodded grimly. "Now, take a run. If you do it in under seven minutes, you won't need to report to me until Friday. At 9. You may start." Mikan sprinted for her life.

**-x-**

**Reviews give me motivation to post! Mmmkay, so I'm like sevenish months wiser now! I wrote this last night... what do you think of it? Ps. I'm going to have a _lot_ of fun with the next chapter. Take a guess where you think they're going to go. Be specific! Don't say _America_ say _Los Angeles._ Don't say England say _Surrey_. Don't say _Outer Space_ say _Mars_. ha! If you guess correctly I'll make you a character in the best chapter, just look for a PM!**

**reviewwwwwwwww**

**Love,**

**Baby**


	5. Mission Perverted

**Hello my wonderful reviewers! I'd like to give a special shout out to my new wonderful beta! Corvus Corone. Thank you so much for all your help.**

**As you can see, I have finally got a beta... I needed one. We worked really hard on this chapter guys, so I hope you like it.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful faithful five reviewers: pinkblossom12, emliy02, Ichigo1010, LaLaLa Shiro Koneko, Alwaysbtheir.**

**LalalaSK: I'm an anime Gakuen Fan, I've read a lot of the mangas, but I don't have access to all of them! :(! So sorry, I seriously thought his name was Serio Persona. Hmm... Well if it would make you more comfortable I'll try fit Rei in there...**

**Ichigo: Yeah I did! I'm not taking his personality, because I need him to be more serious since he's not so carefree as he is in Ouron. He's been in the DA class forever. I LOVE OURON! And Gakuen Alice, hahaa**

**-x-**

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice isn't mine, and Tamaki isn't mine. The only person in this fic that I own is Alexandra.**

**-x-**

**Ps... Do you guys want Yoichi to be a main character in this story?**

**-x-**

Chapter Five: Mission Perverted

Three irritated sophomores crept through Gakuen Alice's night campus.

"I think you two are paranoid," Ruka said matter of fact tone "She's probably in her room or something." Hotaru had taken to stalking Mikan again, and Natsume had joined her, dragging Ruka along for extra eyes.

"No." Hotaru said, as Natsume pulled them behind a tree. "My camera recorded her leaving her dorm room nearly twenty minutes after we dropped her back off."

Ruka frowned. "Where would she go?" he wondered.

Natsume clapped a hand over both of their mouths. "It is now nine thirty," he whispered viciously. "Curfew is nine o'clock. If we're caught, we'll be escorted to our rooms by a teacher _every night._You don't want that, do you?"

A loud laugh suddenly cut through their conversation. Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume froze. _Mikan._ They curiously, but discreetly, peered over from behind the tree. The blonde-haired boy that they had seen through the vision, Tamaki, was leaning against the building dressed in a black tuxedo.

"You clean up nicely, Tamaki," Mikan complimented him as she moved towards him. She was wearing a dark red evening gown that hugged her curves and had a slit up the side.

"And you came dressed to play. You look gorgeous," he said, pulling her into his arms. "And you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"Your appearance," Tamaki said. "You remember the deal. You change your hair and eyes, and you leave with me instead of being alone."

As Mikan laughed, the color ofher hair changed from brown to black under the moonlight. Hotaru's, Ruka's, and Natsume's jaws all dropped. "What the hell?" Ruka muttered. Tamaki and Mikan both spun around.

"What was that?" Mikan said.

Tamaki shrugged. "Probably security lurking around. Come on, we have to get going, anyway. Did you get the credit card?" he asked.

"Got the plane tickets?" she countered.

"I'm taking that as a yes," he said, grabbing her hand. "Did you tell your friends you were going for the weekend? I told mine I was visiting home. Which is true, technically speaking. We'll have to share a room; hope you don't mind."

"Oops," Mikan said guiltily. "Wait. We're sharing a room?"

Natsume, Hotaru and Ruka were running from tree to tree, keeping up with the duo.

"Yeah. I told my parents we were coming and so they invited the whole family to come meet me and my _girlfriend_."

Natsume froze. Hotaru and Ruka both grabbed him and continued to drag him along the trees.

"Kami-sama, Mikan. How are your friends going to react when they find you gone in the morning?" Tamaki chided.

"The school will take care of it," Mikan said confidently. "Narumi will tell them or something. They'll trust him." They reached the gates and Tamaki squeezed her hand.

"They'll trust him," he echoed. The gates slowly opened as a sleek black car pulled up in front of them. An agent got out of the car and tossed the car keys to Tamaki. "Thanks, Kiro."

They both slid into the car and sped off into the night.

-x-

"_Come on Mikan," Tamaki urgedher. "We have a mission to do."_

_Mikan shook her head viciously, not taking her eyes off of the glass. On the other side lay about thirty or so babies, all pink faced and newly born. Tears sprung to Mikan's eyes._

"_I can't leave her," she pleaded. "Not so soon, Tamaki. Please."_

_Tamaki slowly closed his eyes. "I know it's hard, Mikan. It's hard for me too," he confessed. "But we must leave. For the sake of the children."_

"_But what about this one?" she exclaimed, pressing her forehead against the glass. "What about Alexandra? Look into those bright amethyst eyes and then can you tell me that whatever it is, it's just as important as Alexandra?"_

_Tamaki winced, his own violet eyes turning to glance at the baby. "Not much," he confessed. "Except we've just received a distress from Ruka Nogi."_

_Mikan looked at him sharply. "Tell me he's okay."_

_Tamaki looked at him grimly. "That's what we're supposed to go figure out right now."_

_Sighing deeply, Mikan turned to the glass letting a few tears leak. "We'll be back, we promise," she said before turning to Tamaki and grabbing his hand._

_Tamaki looked to the baby. "We_will _be back," he tried to assure her. The baby started to cry, andso didMikan. It took all Tamaki had not to join in._

-x-

"I don't understand," Ruka said from his position on the ground. Neither Natsume, who was lounging on the bed, nor Hotaru, who was sitting at her desk chair typing furiously, offered an answer. "I…she…he…I don't even know where to start. Natsume?"

Natsume glanced at Ruka before turning to Hotaru's wall, staring at it blankly_. Is that guy really Mikan's boyfriend? Why haven't we seen him before this?_ His fists clenched. _What makes that pervert worthy of her?_

"Mikan couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on in," Hotaru said, dismissing any other ideas.

"Well, _obviously,_she is!" Natsume exclaimed, pounding his fist on the bed. "She's hiding something from us… she's _been_ hiding something from us!"

Hotaru abruptly stood up and walked over to her closet, rolling a large white board over to the center of her room. She opened a black marker and wrote on the board. _Sakura, Mikan - Abnormal Observations._

"Nogi," she said, handing the marker to him. "You write."

Ruka grabbed the marker from her and walkedover to the board. _Mikan faints during lunch on April 3__rd__._

"Write everything you remember before she came back…in small lettering."

_Goes to restroom, returns with letter in hand. Tucks it into pocket, faints before she sits down._

"There," Natsume said, sitting up. "Letter. Didn't she give it to _Persona_?"

Ruka nodded. "She said it was from Narumi." Hotaru started typing viciously on the computer.

"Look," she said, as she turned the computer screen to face them. Displayed on the screenwas a video feed of Mikan walking out of the mess hall, heading towards the bathrooms. Suddenly, she dropped to her knees on the sidewalk, clutching her head. She reached out with her hands after a second and a letter appeared in them. With unsteady feet, the girl stood up again, turned, and walked back into the mess hall. The video ended there.

Ruka walked back over to the white board again.

_Letter appeared from nowhere after she suffered an attack on her mind. Lied or hallucinated about receiving the letter from Narumi._

Ruka turned to Natsume. "Any cameras in Persona's office?" he asked.

Natsume shook his head. "No," he answered. "Let's skip to Monday. When she came into class late."

_Monday April 5__th__. Came into class late andwas disrespectful tonew teacher. Seems to hold a grudge against Mr. Imoto. Acted normally in front of class but out of character in front of teacher. Wouldn't stop until she received a detention._

"In our detention, she tried all she could to get me away from him," Natsume recounted. "And last night… last night she made sure they were alone. She was successful."

_Tried to keep Natsume away from Imoto to be alone with him._

Hotaru was typing again. "There are feeds into each of the classrooms."

"_My Mother was part of the AAO."_

_The three of them could hearthe conversation taking place as it went in and out of the signal._

"_Your mother was in the Dangerous Abilities Class. She had the same Alice as you…mad…power…too dangerous."_

_Mikan's voice was defiant. "I'll shock them all!...Arigato Sensei."_

The feed went silent. The three looked at each other.

-x-

"Wake up, Mikan." Someone was nudging Mikan awake. Her eyes opened and she smiled slowly at her partner.

"Ohayo Tamaki-kun," she slurred.

"It's only early Thursday morning here, Mikan. Wake up."

Mikan's mind clicked into focus as she realized she was sitting in a car being driven by Tamaki.

"I thought you'd like to check your make-up and whatnot. We're only two minutes away."

Swearing, Mikan pulled down the car's mirror and gazed into it, wiping the slobber off of her mouth and diving into her purse for powder.

"Thank you, you're the best," she chanted as she worked to make her face flawless again. "Are we hitting Caesar's ?" she asked, and Tamaki shook his head.

"We're starting in the middle of it all. Our trackers have been taken down somewhere between the Nevada borderline. We'll need to find our man ourselves."

Mikan's face turned serious. "Do we at least have a name?"

"We have an appearance too - dressed in a dark purple suit. It's Reo." Tamaki reported.

Mikan dropped her compact mirror, and stared at the young man in shock. "R-Reo?" She stuttered. "We're going after Reo so soon?"

"I don't know if Persona told you yet," Tamaki said, pulling up to the valet. "But for the next two months your weeks will be…occupied. We're taking down their leading officers." He rolled down a window as a man came up to the car.

"Here's your ticket, enjoy your stay. Do you need us to take your luggage?" he asked, and Tamaki shook his head.

"We'll only be a few hours," he said and got out of the car. He jogged around to the other side and opened up Mikan's door. She stuck out a hand and he pulled her out, staring into her worried crimson eyes.

"Why us?" she asked.

"Because my dear," Tamaki said, leading them down the crowded street. "We're the best."

-x-

"Classes are cancelled on Monday because students have been keeping the environment clean! Congratulations, special class day is pushed back to Tuesday," Hotaru read from the bulletin as Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume walked up the corridor towards Narumi's office.

"I don't see the logic in pursuing that idiot; he's just going to lie to us," Natsume grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. He was having a little difficulty becoming the carefree mission-free teenager that he should've. He now felt himself almost missing Persona's terribly vigorous workouts.

"Where is he, anyway?" Hotaru wondered.

"Oi!" Natsume suddenly cried out. "Crazy man-lady!" Across the corridor, sitting at a table and surrounded by flowers was Narumi-sensei, calmly sipping tea. He looked up and smiled widely.

"Ohayo my wonderful students! You must miss your wonderful teacher already!" He stood up and hugged Natsume. "I love you too!"

Irritated, Natsume grabbed his leg and flipped Narumi so that he was on the ground, groaning.

"Natsume-kun?"

"Don't tell me you love meI don't know you like that…tch." He dusted off his clothes. "Where is Mikan Sakura?" he demanded.

"Mikan?" Narumi asked with wide eyes. He bit his lip and sat up.

"She's not on campus," Natsume stated, his red eyes boring into Narumi's. He kept his face emotionless, but had the same edge in his voice that he was taught to do when interrogating.

"Yeah! We saw her leave last night with that Tamaki guy!" Rukablurted out.

"_BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!"_

"Itai…Hotaru, what was _that_ for?"

"For saying too much," she hissed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her eyes slid shut. "Where is Mikan, sensei? And why is she with Tamaki?"

Narumi stood up. "Mikan's grandfather is very, very old," he said. "And old people get sick." He began pacing. _I'm on a roll,_ he thought to himself. "Somehow he's gotten a virus that is slowly killing him. No one seems to be sure what is wrong with him. Tamaki's uncle is one of the world's most renowned doctors. He has one of the most developed Alices of Healing that I have ever seen. I believe it is their plan to win the heart of his uncle and then convince him to see Mikan's grandfather. He is _very_ high profile, you must understand, and generally only sees patients who are very rich. And well… Mikan is very rich at heart, but not at all in money," he explained sadly. His eyes glazed over. "I hope they are successful in their mission."

-x-

"I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail, fail, fail-" Mikan hissed as she typed furiously on the computer. Tamaki, who was guarding the door to the security office winked at her. "I can't fail. I can't fail," she chanted instead. Using her copied Alice for the first time ever, _the Technology Alice_, was a terrifying feat for Mikan. Especially since the weight of her failure would be grand.

"Access granted," the computer said. Almost laughing in relief, Mikan went through several documents before finding the one she needed. "Guest list to Alices of the World Convention, adding Fields, Michelle and Green, Tristan. Printing passes."

As soon as they shot out of the printer, Mikan grabbed them. At that same moment, Tamaki rushed into the room.

"Guard's coming."

Mikan stabbed the power button to the computer and grabbed Tamaki's hand. When the Main Security Guard walked into the room, he did not notice the two invisible teens sneaking out the door behind him.

Tamaki and Mikan slipped into the men's and women's bathrooms respectively. Once Mikan was in her stall she let the Invisibility Alice fade from both of them. She took a breath, squared her shoulders, and walked out of the restroom, meeting Tamaki in front. Linking arms, they headed to the front of a grand ballroom.

Two large men stood guard in front, with crossed arms and a PDA checklist in their hands. A man with dark brown hair walked up to them and muttered something. One of the men looked down at the list and nodded, stepping aside so they could enter.

-x-

"I don't believe him," Hotaru said as soon as Narumi was out of sight. Natsume grunted in agreement.

"I do," Ruka said, twirling a flower that Narumi had offered them in his hand. "He seemed pretty sad about it." Seeing Hotaru and Natsume glare at him he hastily continued, "And Mikan's grandfather is really old! It makes sense that he's gotten sick."

Natsume snatched the flower from Ruka's hand and threw it on the ground, spitting hatefully on it. "You're supposed to be smarter than that, Ruka. The academy lies to us every day. Why do you think they gave us Monday off? There's a reason, and it's not because we've been keeping the school clean. There are robots who clean the school every night after curfew. We saw some when we saw Tangerine last night."

"Mikan's grandfather is one of the most energetic old men that I know," Hotaru told them. "He can't possibly be sick."

"How would you know Imai?" Ruka sneered, his face now red with embarrassment. "You haven't seen him since you were what? Ten years old?" he jabbed and Hotaru pulled out her baka gun.

"You don't know anything about me, Nogi!" she growled, poking him in the chest with the weapon. "So don't act like you do."

"Oh I know you alright, you're just a lonely girl with only one friend who's destined for greater things than being friends with you. You lock yourself up in that lab every night and you mourn over not having anyone care about you by making creepy little robots of Mikan Sakura," he said.

"And you're just a girly little boy who's been waiting at Mikan's beck and call ever since she arrived, hoping that she'd give you the time of day and fulfil your little stupid crush-"

"I don't have a crush on Mikan! She's like a sister to me!"

"I don't believe you!" BAKABAKABAKA.

"Looks like your gun is a little too slow Imai, what, too scared to actually hit me!"

"OI!" Natsume yelled loudly, lighting two balls of fire in his hands. He shoved each one at Ruka and Hotaru, causing them to stumble backwards. "You two, stop your meaningless arguments. Ruka, just because Hotaru's got a point doesn't mean you should take it out on her. Imai, you've always had a level head about everything. Keep it. Fighting will not help us in our quest to find out what's up with Polka-dots." Hotaru turned around in embarrassment and Ruka ducked his head in shame.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say, Hyuga." Hotaru said from her position. Natsume stayedsilent and Hotaru sighed. "Sorry…Nogi-san. Mikan is my only friend, and I'm…well she gets into so much trouble so easily."

"I'm sorry too, Imai-san. And…I know. I've been Mikan's friend for a while too. Natsume understands that as well."

"Hn."

And between the three, a tentative friendship was born.

-x-

Seven hours later, Mikan and Tamaki were back in the car, driving on the outskirts of Las Vegas. "So what's he doing in Las Vegas?" Tamaki questioned, and Mikan shuddered.

"I _can't_ believe you made me dance and _flirt_ with Reo Mouri of all people! He tried to use his Alice to…seduce me, and I almost had to go up to his room not to raise suspicion!"

"Ah yes, but I got there right on time."

Mikan pressed her lips together.

"Don't be like that, Mikan! You got his mission, right?"

"Right," Mikan said grudgingly, thinking of the redheaded _scumbag_ who worked for the AAO. "I don't know if you noticed, but _everyone_ in the room is a principal or administrator at one of the three hundr-"

"-ed and fifty Alice Academies in the world, I know." Tamaki finished impatiently, but quieted after Mikan's glare.

"He's performing tomorrow night at the Auction and if he uses his Alice just right, he'll have the maps and security plans of all of the schools right at his fingertips."

Tamaki's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "You'll have to distract him while I short circuit the electricity tomorrow for the party. Then you'll lead him up to his room. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and panicked. Mikan gripped the steering wheel.

"Don't do this now!" she hissed. "Pay attention to driving!"

Tamaki ignored her. "The cameras will already be off by then, so you can slip on the mask and shoot him."

"And how will I leave?"

"You're going to have to jump out the window." Tamaki said, blinking. "Yeah, if it all goes to plan, that's how it will go down." Tamaki had two Alices. Seeing possible futures was just one of them. "Shit!" He grabbed the wheel. "You _suck_at driving!"

"Yeah well, I haven't taken drivers ED yet!" Mikan complained. "Give me a break!"

"I will," Tamaki assured her, pulling into a driveway. "But only because we're here." Mikan's jaw dropped, seemingly to the ground.

"This is a mansion!" she squeaked.

"Ready to meet the parents, my lovely _girlfriend?_" Tamaki teased. Mikan squeaked again.

**-x-**

**It might be awhile till I post, but that's only because I'm doing this thing with my four best friends... It's called a trade off! I'm rotating to each of their houses and then they're coming to mine! That's eight days of sleepovers! alkfdhaiperfkfdak;jafd. Im excited. But, I seriously doubt they'll let me sit around and read fanfiction AND write for it. They'll only let me read a little before I go to bed then they'll unplug the computer and hide the cord and battery because yes, I am THAT addicted. Then they'll take away my ipod and cell phone too because they know that I that's how I stay so distracted in class, checking in my pencil case! But I keep telling them that I'm just looking *really* hard for my lucky green pen! But whatever, best friends will be best friends.....**

**Bye!**

**Love,**

**Baby**


	6. Connections

Hello my loves!

I'm SOOO sorry i haven't posted sooner, but... urgh.

I had to get my computer reimaged and for some reason my things didn't save on my flashdrive.

deleting over 300 stories/poems and all my summer homework. I start school next week. FML right? So I'm supposed to be rereading the Epic of Gilgamesh right now, but instead I'm posting the one chapter I was able to save (i've been passing it back in forth between my AWESOME beta Corvus Corone! Love you CC!) and making it perfect for you! Sad I had half of the next chapter written before the horrible reimage right? Well, I'll just have to work extra hard. My life's about to get a little more hectic, but I'll try to add what I can when I can okay?

Here's I think one of the hardest chapters I've done so far, because it made me think really hard.

Love,

Baby

-x-

Chapter Six: Connections

"Breathe," Tamaki whispered in Mikan's ear. Mikan let out a breath that she had not even known she was holding. "Relax. They won't bite," he teased, nudging her gently. A smile spread across Mikan's face.

"Tamaki!" a woman with a thick French accent cried out as they reached the dining room. There was a blur and then Tamaki was being huggedby a woman with long blonde hair. "You've grown up so much, _mon petit beau garçon._"

Tamaki blushed and pried the woman off of him. "Mother," he hissed, embarrassed.

"Tamaki? Are you ashamed of your mother? _Mon merveilleux_ Tamaki?" the woman, Tamaki's mother, asked with wide eyes. Her voice was shaking. Tamaki's mother looked almost identical to Tamaki with the same blonde hair and pale skin. They even had the same face shape. It was hard _not_ to see the resemblance.

"Tamaki," Mikan said with a large smile. "Your mother hasn't seen you since you first went off to Gakuen don't be embarrassed. Go ahead, hug your mother," she said kindly. The woman burst into tears and grabbed Mikan in a death gripped hug.

"Listen to the girl, Tamaki," said a man's voice. Tamaki, his mother, and Mikan jumped with surprise, only now seeing the tall man sitting on the otherwise vacant white couch sipping on red wine. Apartfrom being tall, he had the air of sternness, enough to make Mikan stand a little straighter, square her shoulders and look him in the eye. They were the same mysterious purple as Tamaki's, identical up to the very smallest detail.

"Father," Tamaki said, composing himself. "Let me introduce-"

"A Sakura," Tamaki's father interrupted. "I'd recognize those eyes anywhere."

A millisecond later Tamaki's mother added wistfully, "Yuka Azumi's daughter too. Can't you see it, Yuzuru? She has her father's features as well as her mother's… presence."

Mikan was frozen to the spot. Was she really that much like her parents? So much so, that complete strangers could just look at her and know who her parents were?

"Don't look so startled, Ms Sakura," Yuzuru said, standing suddenly. "We did after all go to school with your mother. She was in our class, and your father taught the Special Abilities class."

"Mikan," Mikan breathed, swaying a little on her feet. "Please call me Mikan."

"Thank you then, Mikan, for bringing our son home. This is my husband Yuzuru and I am Marie," Tamaki's mother said sincerely.

"Are they here yet?" a small voice asked.

"Yeah!" another voice exclaimed. "Are they, _tante_ Marie?"

"Why don't you come see for yourselves?" Marie teased.

From around the corner two children ran into the room with large grins on their faces. _They look about seven or eight,_ Mikan noted absently. _Yoichi should be around that age right now. I haven't thought about him in such a long time..._ She watched at Yuzuru barked at them to stop running in the house and as the set of twins ignored him and crashed into a stand, knocking over a large vase that must have cost thousands to the floor. Acting on reflex, Mikan used one of her alices to keep it from hitting the ground, giving Tamaki enough time to finish his mad dash to the vase and lift it up, putting it back in place. He turned to Mikan.

"Thank you, Mikan, you're a life saver," He said with an award-winning smile before turning to the twins and scooping them up in his arms. "Hey, trouble makers, I got your pictures you sent me. You two are fantastic drawers-"

Mikan tuned them out to see Yuzuru with his head in his hands and Marie fanning herself dramatically. "Great Abel! I'd forgotten what it was like to have children in the house."

"They aren't yours?" Mikan blurted out before she could stop herself. She blushed and covered her hand with her mouth. "Ano…gomen, I didn't mean it like that-"

"They're our nieces," Yuzuru interrupted. "This is our brother's house. _We_ actually live in France with Marie's family, but Tamaki's letter said it was important for him to come to Nevada, so we decided to make it a family affair." He glanced sideways at Tamaki and the twins, who were jumping around eagerly. "Terrors, those two are. Even without their alices. Imagine when they finally develop! I need a cigar," he moaned, standing up and fishing in his pockets for one.

"Mikan?" Marie asked gently. "Why don't I show you upstairs to the office where Yuzuku's brother is working? He was very…_close_ with your father. Would you like to meet him?"

Mikan's eyes watered and she bit her lip to keep it from trembling. Nodding, she let Marie lead her out of the room.

-x-

Mikan was suddenly a mystery to Natsume Hyuga. He used to be able to understand her better than himself. After all, Mikan was an alarmingly open person, and if you wanted to know something about her, all you had to do was just ask. She hid nothing from him - until now, and that worried him.

Natsume had developed a crush on Mikan at a very young age. That wasn't a very hard thing to do, what with her joyful personality, good looks, and a smile that could light up all of Tokyo. Those were the reasons why Natsume had a crush. But those weren't the reasons why he loved her.

Natsume Hyuga lived a very dark life. It started with losing control of his alice and burning down his town, killing his own mother in the process. When the cause of the fire had been discovered, he and his sister were kidnapped from their father and dragged to Gakuen Alice. It was big, bright, and full of happy fake people. Aoi loved it. Natsume hated it.

But Aoi hadn't needed to report to a mysterious man each night named Persona. Persona was mean, and not like father at all. He made Natsume run and dodge rocks until he was sore and sobbing on the ground, crying for his father. _'Otou-san will get you for this!'_ Persona's black eyes would narrow and he would grip Natsume's chin. _'__I__ will be your Otou-sama now. You will submit to me and only me!'_.

Natsume never cried during one of his _lessons_ again.

When he was eight, Natsume figured out what exactly the Academy meant when they wanted him to "get rid of" someone from the AAO. Much to the eight year old's shock, it didn't mean to send them off to a vacation or to hide them. It meant threatening them with his fire, while his designated upperclassmen partner used the heavy silver thing Persona gave him to click at them. After watching those people fall to the floor with shocked, empty expressions and blood marring their clothing, Natsume learned to look away.

It was when he was nine that he first tried to escape from the Academy. He would figure out Aoi later. He would figure out Youichi later. He would apologize to Ruka in a letter. He just had to get out of Gakuen Alice. _Run. Run. Run. Run. Run. _

They stopped him, of course. No one could get away from the prison that they dressed up with pretty faces and bright colors. They couldn't risk letting someone like Natsume join the AAO, because he would probably burn down the school, the dark soul that he was. It was probably true at the time.

And then when he was eleven, a girl barged her way into the school and into his heart. Her name was Mikan Sakura. She was a fool.

_Who,_ he remembered wondering during her second week here, w_ould come to this prison with such an alice willingly? Sakura had obviously been hidden from the Academy since she's lasted this long. Why __is__ she here?_

The years went on and every time she smiled at him, Natsume's thoughts of escape lessened dramatically. He wanted to stay at the Academy. He wanted to be with Mikan. _Mikan_ who was no longer _Sakura._ Not even in his thoughts.

But then one day her smiles became a little more forced, her posture a little stiffer. Although she seemed to _love_ school, that wasn't true when Imoto-sama taught it.

He would often catch her staring at Ruka and Hotaru with a nostalgic smile on her face. She seemed to become a little more serious about everything than she usually was.

_Mikan's light is dimming,_ Natsume observed. _Or maybe she's just growing up. _

-x-

"He disappeared," Tamaki's uncle said solemnly. "And since I don't work for the Academy… that could mean anything, Sakura-san. Gomen-nasai. You father was a wonderful man."

"Did he know about me?"

"I don't think he did, young one." He sat forward. "Because if he _had_, he would've found you and raised you. Mark my words, Mikan Sakura. You would've been your father's world."

Mikan turned her head to stare at the painting hanging on the wall. _Get your emotions in check, Mikan Sakura,_ she chided herself. _Any chance at a life with your father is over. He's probably dead, or as good as. _"I hope he found peace," she whispered.

"Peaceful man," the man in the chair grunted. Very connected with the great Abel."

Mikan raised an eyebrow and turned to face him."Who is this Abel everyone keeps speaking about?"

"Who is Abel?!" Tamaki's uncle thundered in outrage. "That _damn_ school…"

"Kenji!" Yuzuru burst into the room with a worried expression, Marie and Tamaki hot on his tail. Tamaki ran over to Mikan.

"Are you okay?" he asked urgently.

Mikan rolled her eyes and pushed him to the side. "Teach me about him then," she told Kenji, whose face was still red with anger.

"_Who_?" Marie demanded. "And _what_ has got you so worked up, Kenji?" She put her hands on her hips and glowered, something odd for a woman of her beauty and grace. "And stop standing in the doorway, Lena and Lina. If you want to listen, then come in!"

Lena and Lina, the twins, walked quickly in the room, stopping by Tamaki and Mikan.

Kenji looked at Yuzuru and Marie, distressed. "They've stopped talking about the Great Abel. The temple must've gotten taken down…I can't believe, not even in their religion's class… His own daughter doesn't even realize…" Yuzuru cursed and Marie shook her head.

"Why?" she wondered aloud. "It's a part of our _life_." She turned to Tamaki. "Darling? They don't teach it at school?"

Tamaki slowly shook his head, his eyebrows furrowing. 'I vaguely remember a story or two about Abel, however it came from _you_ mother…before I was taken away."

"We'll teach these children about it. Right now," Yuzuru said. He spun to face Lena, Lina, Tamaki, and Mikan. "Sit on the couch," he demanded, and they all moved to sit quickly. "

"But Papa, we already know this story!" Lena exclaimed.

"Came we help tell it too?" Lina pleaded. Unable to resist his daughter's charming looks, Kenji waved a hand, giving them permission. "God made the earth. We know this. He made Adam and Eve, who were banned from the Garden of Eden because they couldn't resist eating the apple from the tree God deemed 'off limits'."

"In this apple," Lena picked up."There was a seed planted not with poison - because if it were poison then Eve would've died - but with magic. It would give their children Godly power. It's well known that God is a jealous God. But still, Adam and Eve gave into temptation and ate the apple, swallowing the seed."

"Were they magical?" Mikan asked.

"No," Marie answered. "They were not. But their son Abel was. When he died, he became God's first angel. He had the magic the seed passed on running through his veins. God did not want to destroy his angel, for _he_ had done nothing wrong. So he sent him down to watch over his brother, Seth. One night, Seth was attacked by a power hungry villager, who was jealous of Seth and his riches. As an angel, Abel could not kill, but he could assist in any way he could. He needed to find a way to warn his brother. He focused completely on helping his brother, shocked when a silver stone appeared in his hand."

"To Seth, it looked as though a silver stone had appeared from the air and was floating towards him." Yuzuru continued. "He grasped the stone and cried out in shock when it melted through his skin. He closed his eyes and went to sleep, convinced he was ill. He dreamed that the villager was coming to murder him. He woke up just in time to see the crazed villager to creep through the door."

"An alice stone?" Tamaki questioned.

The adults all nodded in confirmation. "Good Tamaki." Kenji said. "Yes, it was an alice stone. It's theorized that it was multiple alices, because now that it was in the bloodline again, some of his children and grand children and so on possessed an alice here and went on. Let's fast forward many, many, generations. All the way to Moses."

"He set all those mosquitoes on Egypt right?" Tamaki asked.

"No," Yuzuru said sternly. "God did that. _But_ one of the amazing things that God _didn't_ do was when Moses made the water from the Red Sea part."

The jaws belonging to all of the listener's dropped. "No way!" someone exclaimed. "Nani?"

"Moses had the alice of water. Any form of water anywhere, he could make appear, bend, and shape. No one else could, however, and so he kept it quiet from everyone except his wife Zippora."

"They had three sons. Not two," Marie said, picking up the story. "The sons are not really told about in the Bible, but there are certain manuscripts that translate to _the book_ in every language. It's filled with those three brothers' expeditions. One of them was named Abel, who had taken on the form of a human again on God's orders to help those with alices. He feared that they would be discriminated upon and be made into slaves, starting the whole cycle he just broke again. Abel made water rise when he was a toddler. Moses and Zippora moved their child away, fearing that he would be called a devil child. When Zippora was making food one night, he made the fire flare and turn into shapes he thought delightful from his spot on the ground. Abel was no longer to watch Zippora cook. He did strange things like make dead plants come alive again, or hopeless flowers grow. One night Moses walked in on Abel floating in front of his brothers. He snatched him from the air and made them promise to never tell another soul what they had seen. He made them promise to stay by their brother's did."

"He had _four_ alices," Mikan breathed. "Kami-sama…"

"But that's just the beginning of his story. When he finally grew old enough to speak in coherent sentences, he informed his brothers, his closest friends of his story. With their help, he started the world's first ever magical community with his brothers at his side. It was all very discreet and secret of course, but it was there. It was fine until the Middle Ages, when someone let their magic slip and had the entire world hunting for magic users; they called us witches and wizards."

Kenji walked over, holding a large book. Mikan hadn't even noticed him move. He shoved it in Mikan's hands. "Read it. The both of you. It's filled with stories of Abel_._ If you ever need help with your alices or how to connect and master them, you ask God for peace and help from Abel. Abel was the one blessed with the power to have more than one alice, to make a community where they could be protected for years and years and years from the outsiders. The only other magical user that is worth noting was named Merlin. He created the name _alice_ so one could talk about it in public."

Mikan and Tamaki nodded.

"Monday mornings, they would tell us to go down to the temple and pray to Abel and learn one of his stories. In the afternoon we would report to special abilities. Your father, Mikan, would often tell us these stories of Abel. He had them memorized."

-x-

"What are you doing, Michelle?" Tamaki asked. He and Michelle were alone in the elevator. Wearing a very long navy blue evening gown, Mikan looked stunning. Her back was against the mirrored walls and her head was bowed. Tamaki could see her muttering.

Mikan paused and looked up, her olive eyes wide. "I'm praying for success."

Tamaki smiled softly. "That's a very good idea. You're really serious about all of this, aren't you?"

Mikan's hands dropped to her sides. "In a way, it helps me get to know my father," she confessed. Tamaki's eyes softened and he wrapped Mikan in a hug, resting his chin on her head.

-x-

"_Suoh. Sakura…Isn't this a pretty picture?" a man said as he walked into their living room. Tamaki and Mikan reluctantly pulled away from their embrace and turned to glare at the man. "Nice to see you two working together…" _

"_What are you doing here, Persona?" Tamaki asked, taking a stationary position in front of Mikan protectively. Mikan relaxed slightly. _

"_I came to tell you that your friend Imai has gone into hiding with the cover alices. Her little project for you," he nodded towards Mikan's hand, "was discovered. There was an attempt on her life this morning. Do not try to find her." _

_Mikan bowed her head._

_Persona hesitated before continuing, "If… If you find time to write, I will transport letters back and forth once every other week." _

_Mikan looked up, her eyes glistening._

"_On Fridays." _

_A smile spread across her face._

"_At six sharp. Any later, and I won't do it." _

"_You've gotten soft ,Persona," Tamaki said gratefully. Persona stared at Tamaki silently. _

"_This is a special case," he said defensively. "A one time thing."_

"_Right!" Mikan was beaming, warming Tamaki and Persona's hearts. _

"_Stay safe," Persona said, walking out of the house. _

"_You too!" Mikan called after him. The door slammed and the two companions faced each other. "Thank you, Tamaki." _

_Tamaki cupped her face with his hands and slowly trailed down to her chin before raising a finger and flicking her nose. "I'm always here for you. Sometimes it all gets to me too. Half of the people I graduated with are captured or killed." _

"_And with Ruka MIA, Hotaru in hiding, we _still_ haven't found Nat… Nat… _him_ …and the baby. It won't be long… oh, Tamaki, what will we do?!" _

"_Don't get yourself worked up again, Mikan. All we can do is pray for a better future. You'll be okay." Mikan moved to rest in Tamaki's arms. He pulled her close and rested his chin on her head. "We'll be okay," he repeated, closing his eyes. _

_-x-_

DING. Tamaki and Mikan jumped apart.

"Well, isn't _this_ a pretty picture." a man with red hair drawled.

The End… of the chapter, of course.

Chapter Points! Remember when I did these?

1. Tamaki's Mom and Dad live in France. His Uncle and Cousins (Lena and Lina) live in Nevada.

2. Natsume has a crush on Mikan...confirmed!

3. How do you feel about bringing Mikan's father into this? I'm already debating about Yoichi...

4. In the future Tamaki and Mikan are obviously close...how close do you think hmm?

5. Sorry I'm going crazy with the OCs. I kind of love them. I'll try to cool it... but I do need about 3 or 4 bad guys. Anyone want to audition? PM me with: First Name, Made up last name, age, alice, description, personality, fave color, ultimate like, ultimate dislike, habits!


	7. The Difference Between Lovers & Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Thank you Corvus Corone for being my wonderful and reliable beta!!!!!!!

And now.... Chapter Seven!

-x-

Chapter Seven: The Difference Between Lovers and Friends

"Tamaki! Keep your eyes to yourself!" Mikan chided him as she buttoned up her school uniform blouse. She was happy that the limo had heavily tinted windows, but _oh so disappointed_ that she and Tamaki had to change in the limo on the way back to Gakuen Alice. Together. No privacy screens or bathrooms to hide behind.

Tamaki chuckled. "Come on, Mikan! I'm a teenage guy and I have a hot girl stripping in front of me…" Mikan whipped his arm with her tie. "Ow!" He complained, and then let out a devilish smile and a laugh. "Kinky…"

Mikan let out a frustrated gurgle that was akin to a cat being strangled. "You're so frustrating in the mornings!"

"And your shirt is inside out," Tamaki noted aloud. "I guess you'll have to take it off again…" Mikan lunged at him. "This is more like it…" he cooed, until she socked him in a..._ahem_, particularly _sensitive_ area below the waist. Tamaki was silent for the rest of the ride, curled up in his seat and hiding his tears by staring out the window.

"I'm going to be late for class!" Mikan squealed, running towards her building. Tamaki followed her, his blazer thrown over his shoulder.

"It's alright, Mikan! I'll explain while we're late."

"But Mr. Imoto _hates_ it when I'm late and he's been cutting me a lot of slack lately already…"

"Mikan…" Tamaki grabbed her shoulder, right outside of her classroom. "_Breathe._"

"_I don't' want to live anymore Tamaki!" Mikan hit his chest with each word, but he held her tightly, closing his eyes and trying to match his ragged breath with hers. Mikan didn't want to see anymore dead bodies and she didn't want to fight anymore. She didn't have the heart or energy for that anymore. Mikan wanted it all to end. "Just let me go… just let me die…"_

"_Never." Tamaki replied fiercely. _

"_Then I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" she screamed at him. "I hate you Tamaki! I hate you, I hate you!" The pounding ceased and the screams faded into tears. Her cries changed into, "I love you, I love you, I love you…" She cooed, unaware of her surroundings, and she was ready to fade away. "Please let me die… Tamaki… Let me go…"_

_Tamaki's chest rumbled as he suppressed the urge to cry himself. "You're my best friend Mikan. Call me selfish, but I need you alive. The whole world needs you alive."_

"_No… I couldn't protect Hotaru, or Ruka, or Natsume-"_

"_Then you are meant for something bigger than saving them! Your time will come… you'll be rewarded for all of this pain, Mikan … but don't give up … Mikan, Mikan, _breathe_."_

She took a deep breath and entered the room, effectively interrupting Mr. Imoto's lecture.

"Sorry she's late, Imoto-sensei," Tamaki apologized with a charming smile. "But our plane got in late and she's a bit disoriented." He nudged Mikan, who tugged at her blazer.

Imoto raised an eyebrow. "I can tell," he remarked. "Mikan-san, your shirt is inside out and I believe you and Tamaki-san have somehow switched blazers." Mikan blushed and switched her blazer with Tamaki as Tamaki laughed.

"I told her that in the car, but she wouldn't listen to me!" Tamaki told Imoto. "Anyway… please excuse her. Mikan, here's your backpack. Meet me for lunch, okay? I'll see you." He left Mikan to her own devices. With a sigh she made her way to her seat between Ruka and Natsume, and Imoto continued his lesson.

_School is such a waste,_ she thought to herself, copying down notes absently. _I've been through all of this before… but I still have a purpose. To make sure the war ends in our favour this time and to save my friends in the process._ Mikan grabbed Ruka's hand beside her, and he froze, turning to her with an open mouth, but she continued taking notes. _No, I don't plan on letting them go this time. Any of them, even if it kills me!_

___-x-_

"I missed you Hotaru!" Mikan exclaimed sincerely once the class had cleared out for lunch, reaching to hug Hotaru. _Baka! Baka! Baka!_ She felt rejected, and hurt, and sad all at the same time. Although Mikan knew that Hotaru still thought that Mikan was the same old flake and that her adoration was nothing but superficial, the rejection from her friend hurt like a slap across the face. She lay on the ground a little too long, letting the pain from the Baka gun and the pain from the mission wounds mix. She buttoned her blazer when she felt the blood warming her blouse and stood up. "I missed you Ruka and Natsume," she said in a quiet voice. A hand touched her shoulder. She looked up and found her three best friends staring at her with worry clear across their faces. Hotaru had her hand on Mikan's shoulder.

"Are you okay little girl?" Natsume asked. Mikan smiled sweetly.

"I've just got a lot on my chest…I've got to go meet Tamaki for lunch. Don't worry about me." Mikan picked up her books from off of the floor and closed her eyes, swaying. "I'll have to continue… I still must visit… Great _Abel_ I ask for help…" she muttered before walking out of the room. Her friends followed.

"Why don't we come with you?"

Mikan hesitated, and slapped a smile on her face. _Tamaki would've told her if this would turn out bad, because of his Alice… right? And they got along in the future… right?_

Mikan pulled Tamaki's extra key from around her neck and clicked it into the gate separating the University from the Lower Schools of Gakuen Alice. Natsume growled. _Actually growled_. Then Mikan remembered… Natsume hadn't been in her old future.

-x-

_Death._ That was what the first meeting between Tamaki, Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume felt like. Hotaru kept stroking her _Baka_ gun, Ruka for some reason absolutely adored Tamaki and kept asking inappropriate questions, and Natsume growled every time Tamaki touched her. Mikan thought it to be rather enticing, really.

Shaking her head, she looked up at Natsume with a bright smile. _I haven't thought about Natsume like that since I was a young girl… puppy love._Mikan studied his handsome face and devilish eyes. They were what she liked about him the most: they were like sirens begging her to join them in sin.

"Mikan, I talked to your grandfather."

Mikan's eyes widened and she whipped around to face Tamaki, extremely confused. Tamaki hadn't even _met_ her grandfather – _well, at least, not in this timeline…_ But then it all clicked into place and she found herself nodding eagerly. He hadn't heard from her grandfather at all, but had gone to talk to Persona.

"Yes?"

"He's thrilled that we've made it back safely and with what we…_accomplished_. But he's not sure how much time we have, even with my Uncle… he wants to see us again, same as before. We'll meeting at a different location as my Uncle needs advice about this whole situation from a family friend." _Another mission_already?

"So soon, Tamaki?"

"I'm sorry, Mikan."

"It's not your fault that Jii-chan is ill." Mikan slumped in her seat.

Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume glanced at each other uncomfortably.

"Is there anything we can do, Mikan?" Ruka asked, and Mikan let out a bitter laugh.

"You've done so much already," she said, reminiscing. "Please just… be here for me, okay?" The three nodded, unaware of her double meaning. _Always be here. Stay alive and well._ Tamaki tugged on one of her ponytails. He and Persona were the only two people in the entire universe who knew what she was going though.

"They will be, this time. They don't doubt you and they'll take care to be here every time we return home," Tamaki told her. Mikan smiled._I can't explain how happy I am to have him in my life… all of them._She nullified Natsume's flame that had grown in anger. _It's been too long since I've had to do that._

"Natsume, why are you so angry?" Mikan asked Natsume. Natsume turned red. Hotaru chuckled dryly, and Ruka looked on with curiosity. Tamaki kissed Mikan on the forehead with a mischievous smirk.

-x-

Oh gosh I missed you guys! Sorry, I've been in the biggest slump ever and I felt so guilty not updating! but then my best friend told me to get off my butt and just keep writing until i finished... i scraped the chapter about six or seven times. But finally it's complete and open for reading! So thank you, for not giving up hope!

Chapter Points!

1. I worked really hard on Natsume/Mikan in this chapter, because well... it needed some developing.

2. Get ready for the hi-my-name-is-Ruka-and-I-think-Tamaki-is-the-coolest-person-ever! saga. Do you want Yoichi? This is my second time... one more time and that option is gone!

Review! Please drop a stage name for me, it'll be used in the story!

Love,

Baby


	8. Mikan, Tamaki, and Kids

-x-

Thanks everyone who reviewed. Jeez Suicidal Ferret your review completely put me in for a twist, I admit, I've fallen in love with the idea of MikanxTamaki too and have probably made my readers consider it. But I'll actually only seriously make it happen after I yank up MikanxNatsume time. Right now I'm letting everyone in on what's going on in Natsume's head concerning her, Mikan hasn't really confronted what life was like with him when she was sixteen. I'm aiming for slow building here, because I hate when people in stories are just instantly in love. Real love takes time. But keep in mind that what really is seeming to be going on here is Natsume loves Mikan. Tamaki loves Mikan. Mikan is focusing on saving the world and just loves all of her friends. She doesn't want to lose Natsume at all and she doesn't want to let go of Tamaki.

Shiro-Neko Neko-nya: you have most certainly **not** wasted my time. Like Suicidal Ferret, you've just given me a lot to think about. Regarding your character I would love to use her and I've been sitting on my hands and _thinking_ on how to work her in there. I think I have a pretty good idea. A _very_ good idea. Oh! And you forgot her alice! But if you don't mind… I already have one in mind for her and I got it as inspiration from her alias.

Oh, and forgive my J.D Salinger style writing, ever since his death he's been on my mind..

**I'm bringing Yoichi into the story…**and without further Ado, enjoy!

-

Chapter Eight: Mikan, Tamaki, and Kids

"Welcome to Euro Disney!" Mickey Mouse chirped. Mikan gave a fake smile and **en**twined her fingers with Tamaki's.

She told him telepathically, _something feels off._ He gave her a knowing look as they were dragged along with the massive crowd.

_I can feel it too. I didn't expect for him to try this in the broad daylight._

It made Mikan ill that the AAO would try something like this. Tamaki had seen it in a vision and Persona heard it from his spies. The Anti Alice Organization had already appointed a new, more dangerous ring leader: Nas Saxon.

_It's going to be hell trying to catch him,_ Tamaki grumbled, kissing the side of her forehead. "Baby, let's go on a roller coaster." _I think you'll have to nullify our Alices and the Alices around us every once in awhile in order to throw him off. This is going to be tough._

Mikan scrunched up her nose. "But I'm _scared_ of roller coasters! I don't want to go on!"

"Maman! Maman!" a boy exclaimed, jumping up and down. "La fille a les yeux rouges! " he cried. Mikan tensed.

"I don't look bad with red eyes, do I?" she asked him, and Tamaki frowned.

"No, of course not. You look beautiful, as usual," he said. Tamaki's expression grew darker. "You look like you're related to Natsume though, with his red eyes and black hair."

"I probably look a lot like Aoi," Mikan mused. "Or rather, what Aoi would look like at this age." Tamaki raised an eyebrow.

"You never saw her in the original timeline?"

"She's supposed to disappear in a few days." Mikan's eyebrows furrowed. "I forgot all about that…" Tamaki's hand left hers to wrap around her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"Don't worry about that right now. We've got to worry about… other things," he said. Tears sprung unexpectedly into Mikan's eyes and her bottom lip quivered.

"There's just so much going on, and I have to get it all right or all of this was for nothing. And I'll have to live through it again-"

"_Miss Sakura, I'm sure you must realize that Gakuen Alice must be closed. The children will be__split up into__different government facilities around the world to learn to wield their Alices, and many children will be staying __here__to help with the cause."_

"_The cause?"_

"_Fighting the AAO, Miss Sakura." Mikan, Tamaki, and the College level principal were outside a conference room. The Principal had slipped out of the meeting_

"_But they're just children!"_

"_This is war, Sakura. There__are__no daisies, no Hopstoch, no sleeping in until noon."_

"_I know, sir but-"_

"_Mikan." Tamaki's warm hand squeezed her shoulder. "This one is out of your hands." Mikan closed her eyes briefly, before opening them once again._

"_Let me take Yoichi Hijiri into my home," she commanded. The Principal raised an inquisitive eyebrow._

"_The Demon Producer?" At Mikan's anxious nod,__he__seemed to hesitate._

"_The Polish Academy showed interest in him-"_

"_No," Mikan interrupted, her voice firm. "Yoichi's been in the D.A, doing I don't even know how many missions! His Alice is limitless and he's been at the academy since he could walk! Do you understand what that means?" Mikan's voice dropped into a low hiss. "He's going to die soon if he continues to use his Alice. He'll be of no use to Poland and no use to you."_

_The Principal looked down silently and Tamaki was now slowly rubbing Mikan's back in support. Mikan activated her Alices and waited patiently. The man sighed._

Mikan_, he thought._Are you listening?

"_Yes," Mikan murmured._

The password to the records building is 8390732. Go inside, and destroy his records. Take the boy, don't let him be seen, _he thought urgently. Mikan nodded and walked__past__him, Tamaki obediently behind her._

"Sweetheart?" Tamaki asked, nudging her. Mikan could see that he desperately wanted to speak to her telepathically, but for the sake of their mission Mikan had to nullify the potential Alices surrounding them, including their own. Instead of sneaking a thought to him, Mikan gave a sweet little smile.

"Oh, don't worry about me; I'm just thinking about our baby back home! I've never gone this long without seeing him…" Tamaki's facial expression was so twisted and confused that Mikan couldn't help but burst into laughter. She felt a swell of affection and jumped into his arms, ignoring his startled grunt. "I love you," Mikan said truthfully. "I don't think at this point, I could live without you. I'd forgotten how…complete you make me." Tamaki blushed.

"Great _Abel_," he swore. "You… you can't just say things…" Tamaki seemed at a loss for words. "You look great in that dress," he finally settled on, and Mikan giggled again. An angry man shoved past them.

"_Stupid lovesick idiots,_" the man grumbled. Mikan tensed and looked up from Tamaki's chest, recognizing the tall lithe figure of Nas Saxon.

"I see Tinkerbell!" Mikan exclaimed, tearing away from Tamaki. He glanced at her in alarm. That translated to, _I see Nas._

"Where?" he asked calmly.

"She wants to go pick out some helpers from this line. Tink already bumped into us, but I guess she didn't think we were special enough…" Mikan pouted and Tamaki nodded, understanding she meant: _He was using his Alice to look for other Alices in this line. He was the man that bumped into us, but didn't realize we had Alices._

"I know how much you want to meet Tinkerbell, baby. Let's go find her."

An eight year old and a sixteen year old lounged around a Special Star room, talking. "It's no fair that you don't have to stay in DA any longer!" Yoichi complained crossing his arms and pouting. Natsume chuckled darkly.

"We'll work on getting you out too, don't you worry." Natsume ran a hand through his dark hair and flipped over on his bed. Yoichi sighed loudly.

"Where's the idiot? I've noticed you've taken to hanging around with her friend, Imai…"

"She's not an idiot!" Natsume said sharply. Yoichi jerked up from his position on the couch startled, and Natsume's face twisted. "She's going through a rough time right now Yoichi, I don't want to hear about how much you hate her-"

"I don't hate her, Natsume," Yoichi interrupted quietly. "Sometimes when we're alone I-" Yoichi stopped himself and blushed, looking away. Natsume sat up.

"What?" Natsume prompted. Yoichi shook his head and stood from the couch. _I call her Okaa-san._

"Nothing. I've got to go. Do you want me to drop anything off for Aoi for you?" Natsume, still looking at Yoichi, warily shook his head. "Bye." Yoichi left.

When he returned to Gakuen Alice that morning, he'd been disappointed to find that Mikan was not there. Yoichi hadn't been told specifically why, but only told that it had to do with her grandfather being ill.

Oh, how Yoichi _loathed_ Gakuen Alice. As soon as he'd heard Mikan was in the hospital, he'd run straight out of class begging to see her. The nurses on duty had coldly turned him away, proclaiming him too young to be let into the ICU unit. Yoichi had spent the rest of the day making a card for Mikan that he'd never got the chance to deliver.

Yoichi nodded at the masked students outside of Persona's office that opened the door for him without hesitance. He stepped into the dark room and carefully stated, "Yoichi to see Aoi."

The day after Mikan had been released, Yoichi's things had been packed up and he was tossed into a limousine without any warning. He was told he would be going to a special training program for six weeks in the Caribbean Islands. When he returned he would be participating in missions for Gakuen Alice. From there, his world just seemed to crash around him.

Yoichi had been kidding himself, he really had. He hadn't been thinking logically at all. He'd just smiled at the Special Star status he'd received, and bounced around on DA Mondays, where all he had to do was run back and forth to the kids who were training. One or two of them were generally sent off during the summer and came back, solemn and serious like Natsume. They rarely smiled and flinched at every touch. Yoichi should've known that he would have to go through it too.

"Go quickly," Persona said sharply. Yoichi moved to the wall of the room and pressed his back against the side, searching for it…letting out a silent sigh of relief when the secret door opened, leading him to a special room. Aoi's room.

-x-

"Rose! Où es-tu? Rose! Quelqu'un aidez-moi, s'il vous plaît! Ma Rose a disparu!"

"Scott! Scott? Where are you? "

"Michael! Someone help me!"

The cries seemed to echo around them. Tamaki and Mikan quickly faded from the crowd, which had been taken over by worried parents. "Where you able to steal it when he walked past?" Tamaki whispered, and Mikan nodded. "Try to use both your Nullification and the Tracking Alice at the same time. But do it quickly, Mikan, before he notices." Mikan closed her eyes and concentrated. "About 300 feet west," she said softly, before nullifying it once again. They both began to run, quickly slipping their masks over their faces.

**-x-**

**read and review **

**Love,**

**Baby**


	9. Punching Pooh

Chapter Nine: Punching Pooh

The car ride back from the airport was oddly silent. Mikan gripped Tamaki's hand as if it were her life line. Maybe it was. All she remembered from battling Saxon was slipping the mask over her face and then… nothing. It was as if the memory had removed itself from her mind. The next thing Mikan knew she found herself in front of the Suoh Mansion in Paris.

There seemed to be no plausible explanation for her blackout. No one had an answer or even a theory. Mikan watched herself fight through Tamaki's memories. She watched as she attacked Nas Saxon, rescued the children, and watched as he got away at the last second. Mikan watched as Tamaki punched Winnie the Pooh in frustration, watched as he toppled to the ground kicking his fat yellow feet in the air, and as they got thrown out of the park. She didn't understand. It was terrifying. But she had seen more horrifying things in her lifetime. "Let's go." Tamaki whispered and pulled her out of the limo. They walked beyond the gates and into Gakuen Alice, straight into Persona's office.

"Don't make Yoichi Hijiri use his alice anymore." Mikan ordered calmly. "If he does, he will die soon." Persona stood stock still.

"He has the childhood alice, there is no rea-"

"They were wrong. It takes away his life force every time he produces a ghost." Mikan said coolly. Persona sighed and walked to his desk, sitting down.

"And the mission?"

"We rescued the children, but Saxon got away," Tamaki spat bitterly. "He believes MIkan is Natsume, as he referred to her as Kuro Neko Hyuga in the middle of the fight, though. We can presume that because the mask does not cover eye color, that Imoto has told the AAO that Natsume Hyuga is the only red eyed student at the school."

Persona nodded, drumming his fingers on his desk. Mikan grinned. "Don't resist the urge, Serio." She teased.

"Resist which urge Sakura-san?"

Mikan tilted her head. "Why to rub your hands together in glee and crackle loudly of course!" From under his mask, Persona glared at them.

"Get out." He growled.

"Serio! Don't be shy! We all know how you're feeling-" As Mikan continued on, Persona slowly and threateningly began to stand. "You're just a child at heart! It's okay, you can show your playful side around me! I'm _here for you_-" Tamaki grabbed Mikan's hand and began to drag her towards the door. "Ok! Ok! One more thing, Serio-_sensei_, lemme go Tamaki! I'll behave I swear!"

"_What Sakura?"_

"Call me Mikan! Ow! Tamaki! Sorry, sorry… oh right. Persona, I need you to release Aoi Hyugua into my care."

"What?" Mikan sighed, all traces of teasing gone from her face.

"The AAO is going to attack tonight. It will be a wave of attacks, this will mark the first of seven." Persona slammed his hands down on the table.

"DAMMIT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS AHEAD OF TIME!"

"There's nothing we can do. It's the best way to get rid of some of the AAO's smaller agents, Persona. There's no _one_ place we can attack. The AAO…well this is what we've theorized in the future. There are six Gakuen Alices in the world. One on each continent, excluding Antarctica, for each academy there is one AAO stationed in the same continent as the Academies. There is also a headquarters in the Middle Eastern Area. Where…we weren 't too sure, I have a feeling Ruka discovered it though. The last message Ruka sent back to us was that there was a Triad running the entire thing-" Mikan paused, freezing up. "One of them is my mother." She said beathing heavily. She grabbed onto Tamaki's arm.

"Alright Mikan?" Tamaki asked. Mikan nodded slowly.

"It's just_difficult,_ my own flesh and blood Tamaki…" She made an unidentifiable sound and then continued on. "The first attack on Gakuen Alice will be a silent attack. Tonight. They'll send a few from their hit team to sneak in the Academy, as Imoto has now given them a map of the school too by now… they'll find Aoi and kidnap her. During the third attack, Natsume will disappear. No one knows what happens to him but…" Mikan bit her lip. "By the seventh and final attack on Gakuen Alice, it will be burned to the ground."

"Retrieve her."

-x-

"Mikan Sakura." Aoi tried out slowly. "It's because of her that I get to be free again?" Mikan smiled from the shadows.

"You will tell your brother that she ran across the file in her Uncle's office and pleaded for your release. You will not tell _anyone_ of her alais of Kuro Neko, is that clear?" Aoi nodded quickly.

"Yes sir."

"You will respect her and _not_ question her. If she tells you to hide, you hide. If she tells you to run, you run. If she tells you to shut the hell up, you shut the hell up, understand?"

"I will shut the hell up, yes sir I understand."

"Good. Dismissed." Mikan reached forward and grabbed Aoi's hand, pressing a stone in her hand. Aoi jumped startled.

"I know you can't see me, and I'm sorry that this office is so dark, but this is Mikan Sakura, call me Mikan." Mikan spoke softly. "Do you feel the stone in your hand?" Aoi hummed in agreement. "Squeeze it and concentrate on being invisible." She could her Aoi's breathing slow. "Persona, more candles please?" More candles lit up and still Mikan could not see Aoi. "Good. Follow us," She said, walking out of the office alongside Tamaki.

"Mikan! Tamaki-san!" Someone yelled. Mikan glanced over her shoulder and swore under her breath.

"Stay silent, Aoi, I'll let you talk with your brother tomorrow, I promise." Mikan warned. "Tamaki, hold her hand." She turned back to the approaching Ruka, Natsume, Yoichi and Hotaru.

"How is Jii-chan?" Hotaru asked. MIkan gave a non committal shrug.

"Uncle will send us a letter if anything changes." Tamaki told them with a sad smile. "But rest assured he's getting the care he needs." He looked to Yoichi and then back to Mikan. "Mikan, I meant to ask…is he-"

"Yes."

"So three years from now we'll-"

"Yes."

"Will he-"

"Yes, Tamaki. He will." Mikan said with a soft smile. Tamaki made a choking noise and took a staggering step back. Mikan turned back to her friends. "Natsume? Will you come early to my room tomorrow morning? I have a surprise for you! And no, Hotaru, before you open your mouth it's not inappropriate! Not at all!" She giggled. "And tomorrow I'll spend lunch with you if Yoichi spends lunch with Tamaki his future-" Mikan stumbled. "Friend! All of you have met Tamaki and I think my last friend," She bent down so that she was Yoichi's size and ruffled his hair. "Needs to meet him too." She gave Yoichi a secret smile and he looked back up at her with worshipping silver eyes.

_Anything for you Okaa-san._ He thought. Mikan seemed to soften as she, unbeknownst to all except Tamaki, read the little boy's mind.

"And I'll have dinner with you tomorrow Yoichi, I have a surprise for you too." She kissed his forehead and turned and began walking away, calling over her shoulder, "Goodbye everyone, see you tomorrow during Ability Classes!"

As predicted, Aoi burst as soon as Mikan took the alice stone back and closed all the curtains. "Was that my Nii-chan? Natsu-nii! I can't believe-" Mikan cut her off, laughing.

"Yes, Aoi, that was your Nii-chan." She said fondly, Aoi looked at Mikan oddly.

"Why is he coming tomorrow instead of today?"

"Safer." Mikan answered, turning to go through her drawers. Mikan tossed Aoi a little pink nightdress. "There you go, get ready for bed will you? You'll see him tomorrow."

"How old is he now Mikan-sama?" Aoi asked from the bathroom. Mikan rolled her eyes and pulled out her homework.

"Sixteen I believe," She said after awhile. She began to write out her math homework absently. _Sixteen? Sixteen._ She thought to herself. _When I was sixteen we took that picture… that last picture with Natsume. It was the festival, the day before…the day before he disappeared._Mikan's hands scrunched the side of the paper and her face darkened.

"_Mikan," Ruka said, sitting across from Mikan. He looked tired. "I didn't want to believe it either, but it makes sense."_

"_It wasn't Natsume! It wasn't! He'd_never_-"_

"_It's been_years_since we've seen him Mikan!" Ruka exclaimed. "I wish I could say I know Natsume would never, but he's been with the AAO or Kami-sama knows where for the past five years! They could've brain washed him!" Mikan stood from her desk and walked to her photo album, settling on a page. It was a picture of Mikan and Natsume, nearly seventeen years old. Their faces were close up, but Mikan remembered the moment fondly. They were laying on the grass, talking, when Mikan had whipped out a camera, scooting closer to Natsume to take a picture. After, Natsume turned and kissed her. She kissed him back. He was gone the next morning. "And his alice is rare," Ruka continued on. "It was Natsume that did it, Mikan…"_

"Mikan?" Aoi was asking another question.

"Yes Aoi?"

"Does he love me?" Mikan stared at her.

"More than anything Aoi. He fought for you and would continue until his dying breath. Natsume loves you infinetly, don't you ever forget that, no matter what he does." _I still believe in him. I don't think he did what they said he did. I still have faith in Natsume_.

She'd forgotten what it was like to be around Natsume. I'd been years since she'd been in the same room with him alone. But now being sixteen again, the last time she saw him… she could remember their old routine. They'd banter, and then they'd talk, and then they'd do something crazy. She remembered why she was so addicted to him, why after all these years she tried so hard to keep a friendship with Natsume, that baka…

-x-

Here you go! Sorry it took so long, my beta's gone MIA... hmmm... that's okay, i still love her! I've taken all of your characters in consideration and I'm thinking on them, I promise. Thank you.

Love,

Baby


	10. Rendezvous

Sorry guys that it's taking so long... my life is a bit of a whirlwind... plus I have no beta! I have no clue what to do without someone to bounce ideas off of...Hm. This chapter has strong Natsume/Mikan relationship development. I thought it was time to up the amp a bit more, considering this is a romance...

-x-

Chapter Ten: Rendezvous

All everyone else saw were blank, twinkle-less, unnatural eyes. But Mikan saw blazing fire. Natsume had to have had the most expressive eyes Mikan Sakura had ever seen, but he hid them well with his shaggy black hair and his nearly almost slouched demeanor. His eyes were beautiful too. Two large sparkling rubies that always let her know what he was feeling. Always. She watched the next morning as his pyro rubies shined on Aoi and the worried face of the little girl reflected in them.

"Natsu-nii?" The girl said in a tentative squeak. _This is a dream. Or a trick! A farce created by Persona! I would never see Aoi again unless I left Gakuen. Like I've been planning… has Persona found out! NO! I can only tell if this is real, only if she feels real, my little Aoi.._ Natsume slowly lifted up a hand to Aoi's face and cupped her cheek, just holding his hand there. It wasn't Natsume who made the first move real move, it was Aoi. She slapped his hand off of her cheek and wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly.

"What are you doing Aoi?" Natsume asked, dazed. He was standing still, as if not realizing Aoi was really there. "If Persona-"

"I'm free now. Mikan wanted me to be free ,and so I am." She muttered. Natsume's eyes darted up to Mikan and held them. Mikan listened for his mind.

_How could she? Why? I don't understand how Mikan could possibly…_ Mikan shrugged. "My uncle is the Headmaster." She said. Natsume seemed to deflate in relief and wrapped his arms around Aoi too. Mikan quietly backed into her bathroom and locked the door. Perhaps this would permanently diffuse the theory of Natsume burning down- Mikan stopped her thoughts, turning on the shower. It was just a theory. Even if Ruka did,think Natsume would, Mikan refused to believe that Natsume would do such a thing. She simply wouldn't-

"Polka dots?"

"I'm taking a shower!" Mikan yelled over the water. "Don't leave the room!" The knocking abruptly stopped and Mikan continued showering, lost in her thoughts.

-x-

Natsume blushed a bright red at Mikan's exclamation through the bathroom door. He turned to Aoi, trying to think of anything, _anything_ besides Mikan in the shower. "Will you be going to classes soon?" Aoi bit her lip and shrugged helplessly.

"I don't think I can even leave the room right now. Mikan and Persona-sama are being very secretive about what's going to happen to me." Natsume's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. _Since when was Mikan so familiar with Persona? Is he blackmailing her? No, then she would be doing missions right? But she only has the nullification alice and she hasn't been going on missions…This academy… it's so… _He narrowed his eyes. Natsume was missing a very crucial piece of information. Something wasn't right. "But she gave me her bed to sleep on and these pretty pajamas! Mikan-sama is so wonderful isn't she?" Natsume nodded slowly. "Tell me about your life a bit, Natsu-nii please!"

"Well," Natsume paused and leaned against Mikan's desk. "My life is really boring right now."

"Why?" Aoi demanded.

"Why? Because I don't really know what to do with myself. I've been dropped from DA and my missions have stopped. I have all of this spare time and nothing to do with it. There's always Ruka and Imai, but…" He furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm friends with Imai because she's Ruka's best friend, and Ruka seems so caught up with Imai lately…" Natsume suddenly wiped the sorrowful look off of his face and turned back to Aoi. "Did you have breakfast?"

"Yes!" Aoi said. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. It was broken when Mikan stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her school uniform and with wavy wet hair.

"Sorry for the wait," Mikan apologized, breezing through the room. She went to her dresser and picked up a pair of pearl earrings "Aoi you'll have to remain in my room until lunchtime alright? I'll take you out to lunch, under disguise of course." She said combing her wet brown hair with her fingers. Glancing at the clock she swore. "Great Abel! Look, you know where the remote to the television is, the cd player, I'll be back here at 12:10. Come on Natsume, we'll be late if we don't leave now!" She exclaimed before dashing out the door.

Natsume jogged to Aoi, tenderly kissing her forehead. "I love you Aoi. I'm glad you're finally here." _I'll take it one step further and we'll escape. You'll be truly free. _ He pulled back then and left, leaving Aoi with a grin on her face.

"It was all worth it, because I got to see you again." She whispered, staring at the closed door.

-x-

"Did you enjoy Paris?" Hotaru asked Mikan over lunch. Mikan shrugged, keeping one eye on the other side of the courtyard.

"Most of it was spent in the Mansion." Mikan said. Hotaru frowned.

"I apologize. I wasn't thinking-"

"No Hotaru!" Mikan sensed guilty feelings arousing in Hotaru. She didn't want her best friend feeling guilty. Especially over Mikan's lies. "I love Tamaki's family, I love them like they're my own." Hotaru stared at Mikan, and it took all of Mikan's inner strength to not use her telepathic alice to rape her friend's thoughts. _They're personal Mikan. _But what if she's judging you? What could Hotaru be thinking? _Then let her judge you. Everyone has an opinion about you, Mikan. You better get used to it. _Hotaru shook her head, picking up her lemonade and sipping on it, averting her eyes from Mikan. Mikan jerked as she heard Yoichi's laugh travel across the courtyard before smiling. _Excellent,_ she thought, looking over to Tamaki and Yoichi smiling and talking. _They'll do fine._

_Flashback_

_Yoichi looked between Mikan and Tamaki as they slipped away from the Academy in a large limo. "You're my Mama and Daddy now?" He asked cautiously. Mikan's heart jumped to her throat and her tears blurred her vision. Luckily Tamaki, who knew her better than she ever could, answered for her. _

_ "Yes Yoichi," He said, grabbing both Mikan and Yoichi's hands. "The three of us are a family now. You are our son. But we have one condition." _

_ "Anything," Yoichi breathed. His face was flushed with pleasure and emotion. The boy seemed overwhelmed. _His father,_ He thought. _I have a real father. He's handsome and nice…and I have a Mommy too. She has the prettiest smile… they're perfect…

_ "You cannot use your alice anymore my dear child. It's Draining you." Yoichi bowed his head. _

_ "I…" _Don't want to give up my alice.

_ "Please Yoichi!" Mikan exclaimed, finally bursting into tears. She wrenched her hands from theirs, wrapping her arms around Yoichi's little body. "I love you so much little one, we can't have you die on us!" _

_ "I know it will be hard Yoichi, and that you've never really had real parents before, but I would _love_ to try to be your father." _

_Yoichi put his hand on his Okaa-san's head and smiled at his Otou-san. He loved him already. _

_End of Flashback_

_After all_, _they have three years until Tamaki graduates and can adopt him._ Her smile curved into a smirk. _Again. _

"You stare at Tamaki a lot." Hotaru snapped. Mikan returned her gaze to her best friend as her mind raced to find a response.

"You stare at Ruka a lot. Care to explain that one?" Mikan asked leering. Hotaru blushed and once again returned her attention to her drink.

_Yet another thing to add to the whiteboard,_ Hotaru thought. _That snarky behavior. I better call Ruka and Natsume over._ _Yes, something is strange with Mikan._

-x-

It had been new seeing Natsume among the Special Abilities students that afternoon, but it made her heart smile all the same. _He's safe w_as the first thing she'd thought. When the rest of the members were occupied with their alices, Mikan slipped away to join Natsume, who was sitting by himself in a corner. He quickly moved to hug her. Mikan froze, startled and then turned bright red.

"Thank you for Aoi." He whispered lowly. Mikan nodded and held him closer.

"I'm glad I can make you happier Natsume," Mikan said, happy that he couldn't see her blush.

"I'll repay you, whatever you want-"

"_Just don't leave._" Mikan said emotionally. She'd done all she could to thwart his absence. She'd diverted Imoto-sensei's attention from him and she'd given him back Aoi. Natsume still (and would always) have a strong resentment against the academy, but Mikan just hoped that his anger wasn't so deep that he'd leave. She'd taken away his reasons to leave.

What Mikan didn't know, was that Natsume had his eyes closed as he held Mikan, breathing in tangerines, day dreaming about Mikan and the future he wanted to have with her. _Mikan, you're the greatest friend I've ever had._ He thought blissfully. _But I want more. _

What Mikan didn't know, was that she'd given Natsume Hyuga a reason to stay.

-x-

review!

love

baby


	11. Dreaming Up Trouble

Chapter Eleven: Dreaming Up Trouble

Mikan smiled secretively as she heard the door open. She didn't turn to acknowledge the intruder, but instead continued cutting up carrots. The sound of the blade slicing through the vegetable to the wooden cutting board was particularly soothing to her.

Someone else's body heat invaded her personal space and hands crept around her waist, gently pulling her backwards into a warm embrace. "Look at you, being all domestic." A rough masculine voice whispered. Mikan shivered wholly in combination from the sharp wisp of breath in her ear and from sometime else entirely. "What spurred this, beloved?"

"Oh," Mikan tried to respond as nonchalantly as she could, forcing herself to continue cutting the carrots. "I don't know, I just decided that I'd try and do something special for you tonight. After all, we can't keep eating carry-out every night , can we?" The hands ran up and down her sides, and her cutting turned vicious.

"Well I can certainly give up Fast food." Mikan raised an eyebrow and almost nodded in agreement, but soft lips on her neck made her still completely. "But I'll trade that for eating you every night." Mikan dropped the knife completely and turned around, running her hands through his thick hair.

"You're so crude." She chided before crushing her lips to his. He kissed her back furiously, his hand toying with the edge of her shirt and tickling the base of her stomach.

"What can I say? I love my wife. Especially when she pretends that she can cook." Mikan giggled and pulled back, playfully slapping his chest.

"I can too cook, I'll force feed you this dinner I've been slaving over all afternoon!" He kissed her cheek.

"I'll eat every bit just because you made it. Did I tell you I love you today Mikan?"

Mikan sighed. "No."

"I love you Mikan."

"I love you," She looked into his large crimson eyes. "Natsume."

Mikan fell off of the couch with a scream. Across the room, Aoi rose from her bed like a zombie. She rubbed her weary eyes and took in the scene. "Are you okay Mikan?"

"Yes Aoi-chan." Mikan hadn't moved from the floor. She lie on her back, staring blankly at the white ceiling. "I just had a bad dream. You may go back to sleep now." But Aoi wouldn't relent. She was now fully awake and her eyes were as wide as baby moons.

"A bad dream? _You_ get bad dreams?" She asked her heroine. Mikan sighed loudly, reigning in her patience. With such a confusing, not to mention terrifying dream floating in her mind, the last thing Mikan really needed was a little kid idolizing her like some God.

"Everyone has bad dreams, Aoi-chan." Aoi seemed at a complete loss for words, which Mikan was thankful for. Mikan wondered when her mind and body had started reacting to the seventeen year old boy. And _Sweet Abel_, did this make her a child molester? A Cougar perhaps? Natsume was underage and Mikan was in her mid-twenties. And who was to say Natsume would even be attracted to her in that way? But combing through her long forgotten memories, Mikan vaguely remembered their innocent and long awaited kiss under the Sakura tree, before "unknown factors" took Natsume away from Gakuen Alice and essentially, her. But that was eons in the past, and now that she'd gone and messed up the timeline, it wasn't even in her past anymore. Maybe Mikan had changed so dramatically, that any attraction Natsume felt towards her might have evaporated. But then Mikan remembered, her eyes swelling with unshed tears, that none of this mattered, because Mikan wasn't here to make her own self happy. She was here for Hotaru. And Ruka. And Aoi. And Tamaki. And Yoichi. And Persona. And Narumi. And Natsume. And Koko. And Sumire. For the rest of her class. And for the rest of Gakuen Alice. She was here so that no one had to bury anymore loved ones, so that they could all graduate together, get married together, have children together, have grandchildren together, and grow old together.

Mikan wanted to make sure Aoi got her brother back and that Yoichi got a family.

"Mikan-sama, your class starts in an hour." It seemed that her wakeup call was here. She pushed herself off of the floor. "Thanks Aoi-chan, I'll get ready. But I was serious, get back to sleep." She said sternly, mentally and physically shaking herself. Aoi nodded and nestled back into the covers. Mikan walked swifty into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

-x-

"Sakura-san, please stay back." Imoto called just before the bell rang. Hotaru gave Mikan a searching look before she was pulled away by Ruka and a frowning Natsume. Mikan huffed, drawing a blank as to why Imoto wanted her attention now. Perhaps this would be another talk degrading Gakuen Alice. She was prepared to dish out the worst.

"Yes Sensei?" She asked, approaching his desk. "How may I help you?" Imoto looked very apologetic and Mikan tensed, sensing bad news. Her telepathic alice switched on and his thoughts flooded her mind.

_Of course this is brilliant! There is no way she can say 'No'. Master will be pleased._ Imoto leaned forward with a large frown on his face, although Mikan could hear the positive energy buzzing through his thoughts. "Mikan, I'm sorry, but you have not been present for enough of my class." Mikan's eyes widened. This was not something she expected. She thought Persona had taken care of everything. She leaned forward, angrily. She thought that since she was doing a duty to a school, as all of her Senseis knew this, her missing class time would be dismissed. And then she remembered. Imoto didn't know. Imoto, along with the rest of the student body, had been informed that she was seeking medical care for her ill-ridden grandfather. She had no special excuse for this class. She'd missed too many sessions.

"I can't move on to the next level of school, can I?" It was heart wrenching, painful, and humiliating to be held back a grade. Especially when Mikan had been through it all before. Mikan take Imoto's exam and receive a hundred percent on it and it wouldn't matter. She would be dishonored and would not graduate with her friends. Something caught in her throat and she commanded herself to pay attention to Imoto and his thoughts as he nodded in response to her revelation.

_Perfect. She looks destroyed. She'll do anything to regain her honor. She is ours now._

"I've pleaded with the Principal. He's given permission for you to do an extra credit project with me." Mikan couldn't help but be intrigued. "Tomorrow you and I will travel off campus bright and early in the morning and travel to very public places together. You'll be tested on controlling your alice in non-alice user situations." Mikan was lost. There was a very, very, big hole in Imoto's plan.

"But Imoto-sensei? My alice is Nullification. I'll blend in easily."

_She wasn't supposed to notice that!_ He thought smiling painfully. "Well then this should be an easy project then, won't it Sakura-san? You'll meet me at the front gates at six thirty instead of reporting for class. Wear Casual clothes and don't bother bringing your ID. Dismissed." _I'll make sure she doesn't wear her ID. No one will know hair nor hide of us by tomorrow evening. Mikan Sakura and her Sensei will have… vanished. If she has what we think she has… yes, she'll make a fine addition to the AAO. _

Mikan knew she was in trouble. She had to find a way out of it, and _fast_.


	12. Antebellum

**_Thanks for the wait. Yes I know, I suck at updating. I've never been able to write well at the drop of the hat. I'm more of a...open a word document and see if it comes to me..._**

**_And now, in celebration of finishing Mid-Terms... Chapter Twelve: Antebellum!_**

an·te·bel·lumDefinition of _ANTEBELLUM_**:** existing before a war.

Chapter Twelve: Antebellum

"We weren't expecting this."

Tamaki slammed his hands on the desk. "We know this Persona!" He roared. "No matter what I do tomorrow I'll be walking into a trap!"

Mikan put a hand on his. "Calm down, Tamaki." Tamaki spun to face Mikan, his face twisted in an ugly expression before he realized who he was talking to, and sat down gracelessly next to her. "We're not looking at this the right way."

After a brief silence, Persona clapped his hands together. "This is the reason why I paired you two together. Where one falters, the other picks back up the ball. Your observations Mikan?"

Tamaki huffed and crossed her arms, glancing sideways at Mikan. She was uncharacteristically calm; both physically and mentally.

"The only choice we have is for me to go undercover. I'll find Yuka, I'll figure out how they were able to hide Natsume in the first timeline, and I'll be able to discreetly steal alices. I just has to play the part of the dutiful daughter well." She said casually.

"And if Yuka isn't there?" Persona asked. At Mikan's startled glance, he added, "Just playing Devil's advocate Mr. Verdier…"

"Then I'll have to really convince them that I hate Gakuen Alice." Mikan said sitting forward. "I already did that with Imoto…"

"So this works out perfectly. However, you cannot stay there forever." They fell back into a pensive silence.

"I guess…Tamaki will just have to come for me. I mean, if I escape at the opportune moment, I suppose I could send you a signal, but I can't really just leave AAO. They'll have me under high lock-down. Natsume was trapped there for-" She broke off and cleared her throat before resuming again, much quieter. "Natsume was trapped there for years and couldn't escape. He'd been training under you, Persona, for nine years."

"And what about the possibility that he didn't want to escape Kuro Neko, hmm?" Mikan glared at him.

"Shut up." She hissed. "You don't know him the way I do."

"And I don't claim to. But I've seen him at his strongest and his weakest, Sakura. I've seen him happy and I've seen the poison of hatred seep into his mind and clear his senses. You forget that I received custody of him directly following the…incident regarding his village." Mikan's eyes lowered.

"What will the Academy say?" Tamaki spoke suddenly.

"The truth" Persona answered. "We'll have to say that Imoto was a spy and kidnapped her. As a policy, all of the students will be warned to not leave campus, only specific DA students will have permission to leave, the campus will be on lockdown, all alumni will have strict orders to keep an eye out for wandering children with her description…"

"My friends will be destroyed." Mikan said, still gazing at the floor. "What about Aoi?"

"Once Imoto has left, we will be free of spies yes?" He waited for Mikan's nod. "She'll be free to join Natsume in his dorm and her classmates in classes, if she wishes." Tamaki sighed loudly, frustrated at fighting a losing battle.

"Maybe we can put a tracking device on you…"

"We can't risk that, especially if there's an electronic Alice user at Headquarters Sakura needs to arrive clean with only intentions to destroy Gakuen Alice. If they suspect anything less, then they'll kill her."

"Don't worry, Tamaki. I have a trump card, remember? I have the S.E.C alice! There's no way that they can detect that as long as I Nullify it." Tamaki's lip curled and he stood up, storming out of the office. "Persona-"

"Good luck." He said, dismissing her. Mikan jumped up and ran after her friend.

"Tama, Tama, wait!" She grabbed his shoulder. "It's going to be fine." He jerked in her grip and turned to face her, eyes blazing.

"You don't _know_ that! Just shut up! Just shut up with all your damn positivity! Can't I be sad?"

"No!" She roared. "You _can't_ be sad! Because if _you're _sad, then _I'll _lose it too! And what use are we if we're both a mess! I need you to be you Tama! I need you…" Her voice lowered. "I need you to make me feel like everything will be okay." Mikan could feel the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She didn't know how she could do this. _Especially without her partner in crime. This hadn't happened in the past. She'd be walking blindly into the AAO. She didn't know what they were planning to do to her, and she didn't know if they'd even leave her alone. _"I won't be able to see you…and I love you Tamaki. I'm scared."

_She may not live to next week._

_No Natsume._

_No Yoichi._

_No Hotaru._

_No Ruka._

_No Aoi._

_No Persona._

_No Tama- NO! She refused to think of herself without him. She wouldn't through this again. No one was going anywhere. She would be going away for awhile...but she was doing this for them._

_Her friends._

The hot air bubbling under Tamaki's skin seemed to burst as he visibly deflated. He pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes.

"I love you too." He mumbled. "And I'm scared too. But it'll be okay…it'll be okay Mikan…"

-x-

Ruka stared at the scene with wide eyes. It had started when he was passing the D.A office to get to Natsume's dorm, but he'd seen Tamaki tear out of the office and had gotten curious. His curiosity and fear spiked even higher when he saw Mikan come running after him.

He was frozen, hidden by the tree's shadows. Ruka leaned back against a tree and breathed in slowly, closing his eyes.

_Mikan came out of Persona's office. _

_Mikan. Came. Out. Of. Persona's. Office._

_She's been disappearing frequently. _

_She suddenly has been spending so much time with that Senior._

_He came out of there too. _

_Mikan came out of Persona's Office._

_Mikan. . _His breathing picked up as he fought to keep back the conclusions he seemed to be jumping to.

_Natsume and Yoichi are dismissed from D.A, the D.A students are all running free..._

_The teachers seem to be covering for Mikan. How could we not have noticed?  
How could __**I**__ not have noticed? _Ruka's eyes opened. Tamaki and Mikan were gone.

_She works for the academy now. _He broke in a run towards Natsume's dorm room.

_I have to tell them before it's too late._

_-x-_

**Not very eventful, I know. But I had to take a step back and plan this out...and find a way to explain it to you, because technically a new section is starting. Yes, I do believe we are starting Part Two :)**

**See ya!**

**Love,**

**Baby**

**ps.**

**Oh yeah, please review. I just love reading them!**


	13. Book Two: Prologue: Dear Natusme

**Book Two: Chapter One: Dear Natsume**

**I AM** a prisoner. I haven't seen the light of day in months. My wrists have been shackled tightly with Alice suppressants. They AAO doesn't trust me when I say I've cut my ties with GA. I may have fooled Imoto, I did not fool them.

The room I'm staying in is mildly comfortable. The bed is comfortable, the mirror is nice looking, there's a closet. I found a stack of paper and I found a pen somewhere. There aren't any windows and I can walk across the room in two large strides. Every six hours someone comes to my room. Sometimes they lead me through the AAO offices to a bathroom. Sometimes they lead me to a conference room where I can eat what looks like leftovers of someone else's lunch.

Some days, when my head is down and I'm eating lunch, a woman will stand in the corner silently watching me. She does not think I see her. I know who she is. She's my mother. Yuka. She looks almost identical to me, except with darker hair and eyes. But the face is the same.

When I swallow and look up all the way, hoping to catch her eye, she slips from the room and a guard shoves my shoulder, telling me to hurry up. I wish to speak with her.

I go back into my room and I sit on the bed, thinking about her, thinking about a way I can escape the AAO without using my Alice. Every day I try. Every day I draw a blank. I'm stuck here, and I don't think I'll get out.

I have no clue why I'm writing you. We're friends, sure, actually no, we're not friends. I shouldn't say that. We're best friends. I just haven't talked to you in a long time. And I haven't really been all too honest with you either.

I'm sorry.

I am so sorry.

I kind of miss being harassed by you every day. And I kind of miss suppressing your Alice every time you get angry, which happened a lot. I wonder, how many people have I stopped you from burning Natsume? What a morbid thought.

I remember when we were once captured by the AAO because of my own stupidity…and you saved me. You _saved_ me with that fire. I remember it. I remember the uncontrollable fire in your red eyes and the triumphant smirk you gave them.

You killed them, didn't you? You burned them alive.

Is it wrong that I smile at the thought of death?  
Sometimes I think I'll die here Natsume, that you'll never read these letters and I'll-

Why were you born with fire anyway? Why are we born with an Alice anyway? What makes my blood so different than the average Joe's? Great Abel. I wish I felt like praying. But I'm so _tired_ of believing.

I'm lonely.

Urgh! And here I am complaining to you. You're not the person I usually come to with these things, Natsume, so I'm sorry for bothering you. In fact, I should be writing to Tamaki. He must be worried sick about me! Abel knows I'm worried sick about him. It's been a long time since we've been apart this long. I'M JUST SO FRUSTRATED! You see? No? I do.

I see why I'm writing you Natsume. It's not just because I miss you. It's because you listen to me. You actually, listen to me. Your back may be turned, and you may be rolling your eyes, or writing, or pretending to read, but you always hold on to every single last word I'm saying. You're always listening to me and you're never judging me, or trying to protect me from everything.

You're…calm.

You calm me down.

Even when I'm writing to you, you make me feel calmer, better.

Thank you Natsume.

Natsume.

Natsume.

Mikan.


End file.
